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tv   Afternoon Live  BBC News  October 31, 2017 2:00pm-5:01pm GMT

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hello, you're watching afternoon live i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. calls for a crackdown on high—stake fixed—odds betting terminals; is the bookies‘ luck about to run out. there are now 430,000 gambling addicts in britain and many of them lose vast amounts of money on fixed odds betting terminals. scotland yard investigates seven new allegations of assault in the uk by the us film producer, harvey weinstein. i will return but i want guarantees. catalonia's sacked president says he has not travelled to belgium to seek asylum. i'm not here in order to claim political asylum. this is not a belgian question. i'm here in brussels as the capital of europe. coming up, all the sport from 0lly and change foremo farah? he's split from his coach alberto salazar. he says it's for family reasons. talk
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to you later. and phil, halloween? pretty scary stuff in northern and western parts of britain. it still looks wet. is it like that everywhere? thankfully not. further south and east, drier and brighter. more details in the studio in half an hour. also coming up — it's snake news — how this petrified parrot escaped the jaws of death in singapore. hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. they're called the crack cocaine of gambling — fixed—odds betting terminals on which you can currently gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds. they made almost £2 billion last year for the betting industry and hundreds of millions in tax for the treasury. but now the government is looking at limiting the amount that can be gambled at any one time to as little as £2 as part of a review of problem gambling.
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jim connolly reports. a few months ago, nathan would have struggled to walk past a bookmakers. his excessive gambling problem started with fixed odds machines. he stopped betting with help from gamblers anonymous. i found myself suddenly with debts that i could not cover at all. i lost about £5,000 in 48 hours. you lose all sense of time around you. the moneyjust, the money becomes a number on a screen. you're desensitised to everything that is going on. gamblers anonymous was my last resort to save relationships. currently you can bet up to £100 a time on a fixed odds betting erminal. the government review suggests a much lower limit, ranging from £50 to £2, making these machines less attractive.
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we recognise that people are losing a lot of money on these machines. that they are creating some issues around harmful gambling which can have a great impact on other areas in society including their families and their communities so we want to make sure we are taking action. but labour isn't happy with the review, saying it could go much further. the government could have come to parliament today and said we are reducing the stake to £2. instead they have given in to industry lobbying, they have a 12 week review. the maximum stake could still be £50, which means there are going to be a lot more problem gamblers losing money in years to come. last year, £1.8 billion was made from these types of machines. bookmakers said thatjobs are at risk if the limit falls as low as £2. we estimate that half of shops in the uk would close, that's approximately 4000 shops and potentially 20,000 jobs. at higher stake levels maybe 20 or £30 we are looking at approximately 2000 shops closing with 10,000 to 11,000 job losses. just like high streets up and down the country, this part of east london has more than its fair share of bookmakers. legally, shops like this one
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are restricted to having only four fixed odds machines in each shop and some critics say they are so profitable that some companies have multiple branches all in the same area. charities say it's the speed you can lose money on these machines that is the issue. the gambling industry has 12 weeks to respond before the government decides how low its final limit will be and, with bookies taking billions each year, the stakes have never been higher. jim connolly, bbc news. at westminster is tom watson, deputy leader of the labour party and shadow culture secretary. it's those stakes presumably you wa nt it's those stakes presumably you want reduced dramatically, the £100 limit is too high? yes. we think the bookies have been turned into high sta kesica ls bookies have been turned into high stakesicals knows. bookies have been turned into high sta kesicals knows. the bookies have been turned into high stakesicals knows. the roulettes seem stakesicals knows. the roulettes seem to have an addictive quality that does very large damage to many,
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many families and communities. the gambling commission estimate one in nine people who use the machines have gambling problems and the way to change that is to reduce the sta kes so to change that is to reduce the stakes so that people lose less over time. the industry knows this has been coming. they've been throwing everything they can at it. spin doctors, lobbyists, threats of legal action. they have managed to delay the government again who i think are worried about a - review for worried about a judicial review for another 12—month consultation. we we re another 12—month consultation. we were due this report back in april, it was interrupted by the general election, the government then delayed their decision until after the summer delayed their decision until after the summer recess. delayed their decision until after the summer recess. 0nce delayed their decision until after the summer recess. once again, gambling addicts will have to wait another three months before the government acts. there is a whiff of hypocrisy though isn't there, in 2005, you were part of the labour government that deregulated this industry? i don't think there's hypocrisy but there is an acknowledgement that at the time in fa ct acknowledgement that at the time in fact both parties sup reported the regulation of the fixed odds terminals, they were completely unregulated before that. we didn't
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understand how there would be such an explosion of the number of machines and the addictive qualities they sort of bring to people who have or tend to have problems with gambling. ijust want have or tend to have problems with gambling. i just want to quote you. you wrote two years ago — what labour failed to do was to hold the gaming industry properly to account with the gambling act 2005 and ensure the pernicious machines are managed responsibly. you do carry some of the responsibility for this mess? i'm trying to put the matter right and work with the government to make sure that we can. let me just say, both parties supported the regulations. they were completely new machines, nobody knew anything about them. they didn't form any pa rt about them. they didn't form any part of the regulatory framework for gambling. in fact, they are only the type of the iceberg. we think this is the low—hanging fruit, you can deal with these stakes on these machines very quickly. behind there sits an explosion of digital products on people's phones and online that i don't think the current gambling law that was
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designed for the analogue ages, that is now 12 years old that legislation, was prepared for what was to come in the digital age. i've said today in the chamber we'll work to bring in a new gambling bill that can make sure the framework of regular lace and laws accommodates all the new products. we don't want to score political points on this, we just to score political points on this, wejust think, it's to score political points on this, we just think, it's an urgent social policy matter. there are nearly half a million gambling addicts in this country. 450,000 children gamble a week mainly on their telephones. something's going wrong here and going very badly wrong and we want to urge ntly going very badly wrong and we want to urgently address the problem is is why we were so disappointed with yet another delay to making what most people see as a common—sense decision. the particular distressing aspect of this is that 25% of this money's coming from the poorest part of the population? yes. you know, every estate in the country's got at least one betting shop and what
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tends to happen is some of the problem gamblers who don't actually gamble online, that may be because they have spent so much money they can't afford their broadband connections, it fends to focus on a particular group of gamblers who if the stakes were reduced could be significantly reduced from the harm done of gambling and perhaps more importantly than that, their families could have the harm reduced as well. that is why we see this as so as well. that is why we see this as so urgent. we made sthur rsure in our manifesto at the general election we specifically committed to reducing the stakes to £2. when you use the word "harm", are we talking about add dicteds who're victims or people who have no self—control? victims or people who have no self-control? gambling addiction is an illness and it's time we recognised that. we are about to launch a commission to look at how that addiction is dealt with in britain, a joint commission between my team and our health team led by jonathan ashworth. we are going to look at the causes of gambling
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addiction. what services are available and where the resources come from. because there aren't many figures out there. the gambling commission think that gambling addiction could cost £1.2 billion to the taxpayer a year. i have a hunch that it's a lot more than that when you take on board lost income through people losing theirjobs, through people losing theirjobs, through family failure where there are splits and people being rehoused and even criminal activity where addiction's driven people into theft orfraud. we are hoping to compile the figures so we can get a much clearer picture of the problem that half a million gambling addicts are causing our country and communities. have you ever used one of these machines? i have, only to see how they work and i can see the way the interaction between the player and the machine operates and why some people could become addicted. you can lose a very large amount of money very quickly. tom watson thank you so much for your time. and we'll be speaking to a recovered gambler who lost £250,000 on fixed—odds betting terminals after 2.30.
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british police investigating the film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. the incidents are alleged to have taken place between the early 1980s and 2015. the producer has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non—consensual sex. our correspondent lisa hampele is here. what are scotland yard saying? thai expanded their investigation into harvey weinstein. there were three women who'd already come forward alleging sexual assault and now we know that there are 11 separate allegations of sexual assault from seven women, so allegations of sexual assault from seven women, so that means four more have come forward in the last few weeks. we know some of the allegations date back to the 1980s and one woman said she was assaulted by him outside the uk in the 1980s
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and the met police are passing that information on to the relevant local police force in that country. another woman says she was sexually assaulted in westminster in the mid 19905, assaulted in westminster in the mid 1990s, another woman says she was sexually assaulted again outside the country in 2012 and again in 2013 and 2014. that allegation will be passed on to the relevant police. a further woman says she was sexually assaulted by him in westminster in 1994. presumably any allegations in america have to be dealt with before anything here? the met police say there were no arrests, they say that they are obviously taking this very seriously here, they have a good historical record here, the police have historical investigations like this, it's very different in the united states. we know they're investigating some high profile names that we know about but also because of the time lapse, it's different in the states and some of
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the investigations won't be able to go ahead. as yet we knowjust that there are no arrests and there are now 11 separate indecent assault charges and we should say of course that harvey weinstein denies all of the allegations. the brexit secretary david davis has updated cabinet on preparations for brexit. mr davis confirmed that nearly 3000 new civil service posts have been created to deal with leaving the eu including 300 lawyers. half a billion has been set aside by the treasury for brexit. let's go live to westminster and our assistant political editor norman smith. the up side of brexit? this is the government i think trying to say that it government i think trying to say thatitis government i think trying to say that it is getting its act together in terms of what life would be like once we leave the european union and to counterthe view that basically the government is snarled up in brussels and negotiations not going very past and in fact are potentially snarled up here in westminster with deadlock over the
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brexit legislation. david davis this morning briefing the cabinet saying, we are taking on more staff. a p pa re ntly we are taking on more staff. apparently the government's already recruited something like 3,000 more staff and is looking to recruit another 5,000 in her majesty's revenue and customs alone and, wait for it, we have already recruited 00 more lawyers. so my lud doing very well out of brexit at the moment. all this at the same time as there's been a warning from the bank of england about the possible ram if i can aces from the city of brexit suggesting up to 75,000 jobs could be at risk. that is if there is no deal. stephen hammond a member of the treasury select committee, is that a true number? it's a credible claim that there'll be jobs going from the city of london. anybody senior who you talk to in financial services saying they are being forced to make plans even if they
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are only contingent plans. the wide spread expectation is that there'll be at least 10,000, the key to whether it's 75,000 or 40,000, is frankly the government ensuring that we have a transitional deal to provide some certainty for the financial services companies. boris johnson famously said he thought the economy would be a bit like a nike tick, it would pick up a bit then roar away. maybe that is what it would be like with the city, there may be the initial dip but there's no reason to think it can't propper ain? no reason to think it can't propper again? well, i'm a great believer in the city of london and the british financial services but a heavy dose of realism is necessary. that heavy dose of realism is that we've already lost some activities from the city of london to frankfurt and paris, particularly particular is, and we need to be doing frankly if you want to stop even more, we need to be more aggressive in portraying why the city of london is a global financial centre. what do you say to
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those who say, here we go again, it's our old friend project fear and scaremongering? i would say go and talk to some of the people who've been running the financial services companies and work there, across here and europe and in the united states. this is happening, they are being forced to make the decisions and those decisions will come even more hard in terms of the clarity of what they are doing by march next year. thank you very much indeed. simon, we are also hearing the government's produced 58 papers looking at different areas of the economy and the ramifications for areas like aerospace, manufacturing, the car industry, the media, you name it, of brexit. however, we are not being given those papers because it's argued to do so, to make that information public could give mr barnier and the brussels negotiators an advantage. so that for the moment is not going to be made public. anotherish jew is is not going to be made public. anotherishjew is the ongoing concern “— anotherishjew is the ongoing concern —— another issue is the
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ongoing concern of sexual harassment in the very building you are standing in? yes, it was confirmed by michael fallon that back in 2002 he placed the hand repeatedly on the knee of a well—known journalist at a conservative dinner. he subsequently apologised, she said it was much ado about nothing and she didn't equate it with sexual harassment, downing street saying the prime minister believes it's right that sir michael has apologised, that there is no need for any sort of cabinet office investigation. but, on the issue of whether the prime minister has confidence in sir michael fallon, the prime minister's spokesman would normally say of course, on this occasion, he was repeatedly asked and did not say that. instead a careful formulation of words saying the prime minister has confidence in all her ministers and the work they are doing. what does that tell us? it tells you there is an incredibly
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febrile delicate atmosphere at westminster with all the allegations swirling around. a fatal fire swirling around. a fatalfire in swirling around. a fatal fire in wales yesterday is now known to have claimed the lives ofa man now known to have claimed the lives of a man and five children. this was in powys in the early hours of yesterday when the alarm was raised. we are hearing that one man and five children aged between four and 11 are believed to have died when that fire ripped through a farmhouse in powys. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines tackling problem gambling — the government is proposing a substantial reduction in the 100 pound maximum stake, on fixed—odds gaming machines in betting shops british police investigating the american film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. the bank of england estimates that up to seventy—five thousand jobs could be lost in the financial sector if britain leaves the european union without a trade deal. ina
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in a moment the dangers of twitter. tell me about it! pru leith is left red—faced after revealing the winner or tonight's bake 0ff final. in sport, sir mo farah‘s left his american coach and is returning to the uk. paula radcliffe's husband is set to oversee his marathon career now. england's cricketers have had their first practise session in australia ahead of the ashes. they are in perth and will face a waca 11 on saturday. and manchester united could qualify for the knockout stages of the champions league this evening, they've got benfica at home. chelsea and celtic are also in action. i'mth i'll be back with a full update in the next 15 minutes. see you then. pf pf catalonia's sacked president says he's gone to brussels to make his voice heard in the european union,
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not to claim asylum in belgium. carles puigdemont told a news conference he was not trying to escape justice, but wanted to be able to speak freely. tim willcox is in barcelona for us. how freely as he been speaking? well, it's just the latest twist in this constitutional crisis drama, simon. there was a lot of anger among his hard core supporters last night when it transpired that he and five colleagues had instead of starting the working week here and fighting for independence, decided to cross the border, take a flight from marseille to brussels, everyone waiting to see what he said today. then he said, look, i haven't come for asylum but i've come to the heart of europe in freedom and safety a nd heart of europe in freedom and safety and yes i will come back to the region if i'd been given conditions by madrid when the conditions by madrid when the conditions are right. now when is that going to be because madrid hasn't changed its line at all ever
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since the start of this crisis and the referendum on october since the start of this crisis and the referendum on 0ctober1st since the start of this crisis and the referendum on october 1st when they held that referendum and 90% of people here said they voted for independence on the turnout of 43%. the people who want to stay unified with spain here think he's been beaten hands down by marian that rajoy by having made that decision to flee the country, as they describe it. let's catch up on what's been happening and indeed what's been happening and indeed what ca rles what's been happening and indeed what carles puigdemont had to say at the brussels press club. the world's media waited expectantly for the first comments from the catalan leader since he left his homeland. good morning. he said he would speak in several different languages to appeal as widely as possible to an international audience. he accused the spanish government of aggression against the catalan people. translation: we are facing a state that only understands the reason of force and has decided to use
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violence, forcing us to abandon our political project. in answer to a question in english, he denied he would be claiming political asylum. i am not here to plain asylum, this is not a belgian question. brussels is the capital of europe. i am here in order to act with freedom and safety. even as he was speaking, spain's constitutional court declared the declaration of catalan independence null and void. another court was considering rebellion charges against him. the people of barcelona woke up to newspaper headlines this morning that their president was now in belgium. opinion on that, as an independent itself, is divided. for me, said this man, it shows he lacks the courage of his own convictions. but this man said the more
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international spotlight the issue received, the better that was. outside the headquarters of the catalan government there was no sign of a tussle for power. the image of the exiled leader can still be seen in some of the officers. the local police were on duty outside. there are reports the national civil guard has raided the headquarters. there were wild celebrations in barcelona on friday, when the breakaway from spain was announced. but what for some was a dream of independence is now further away than ever. ca rles carles puigdemont is trying to keep this issue in the international headlines and also potentially it raises? what of a headache for bell sqlum now, although the belgium
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prime minister's come out very strongly on the side of spain —— belgium prime minister. let's pick up belgium prime minister. let's pick up on what he's been saying with adam fleming who was at that conference today. how much of a headacheisit conference today. how much of a headache is it for them, adam? much less tha n headache is it for them, adam? much less than it could have been potentially because carles puigdemont could have applied for asylu m puigdemont could have applied for asylum because he feared political persecution back at home in belgium. even though it's another eu country, thatis even though it's another eu country, that is allowed under the law, although it would have brought belgium on to collision course with the rest of the eu. they think it's an internal spanish matter and that the catalan government, as was broke the catalan government, as was broke the law by holding the referendum so therefore the spanish government is in the right in this case. that hasn't happened. ca rles in the right in this case. that hasn't happened. carles puigdemont says he wasn't here toe claim asylum and we have had a statement from the belgian prime minister saying he did night invite mr puigdemont here although he's here using his rights that any eu citizen has which is free movement within the eu. mr puigdemont will be treated like any
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other eu citizen. of course the real issue will arise with the charges in spain against mr puigdemont turning into a european arrest warrant if spain demands he's sent back to spain demands he's sent back to spain to facejustice spain demands he's sent back to spain to face justice because then the belgium government will have no choice but to send him back. so the rest of the statement saying pretty much the eu line on this — it's a matter for spain much the eu line on this — it's a matterfor spain and much the eu line on this — it's a matter for spain and dialogue and he's not breaking ranks with his other eu leaders. that's the crillical point, as you say, isn't it —— critical point. he said he wouldn't return until the conditions were right and if he had a free and fair trial he'd go back, when he was asked would he be prepared to go to prison for 30 yea rs. prepared to go to prison for 30 years. presumably his lawyer would argue he'll never get a free trial here because he's facing such serious charges and the madrid government's made it so clear that they think he is guilty of
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rebellion, sedition and abuse of public funds. tell us a bit about the lawyer also, adam, he's engaged, because he's got a history, hasn't he, with spain? yes, tim. this lawyer is not exactly a household name amongst correspondents here in brussels, we don't all know him but he has a history with extradition cases involving supporters of basque independents in spain. he's represented them, immigration and ex—predigs, he's an expert in that regard. the other aspect —— extradition. there was a tussle over spain and belgium over how to deal with these things in the past. it says for an eu national to seek asylu m says for an eu national to seek asylum in another eu country is per
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misable. it shouldn't happen. spain insisted on putting a protocol into the treaty stating that, but then a p pa re ntly the treaty stating that, but then apparently back in the mists of time when this poetcology was being negotiated, the belgian government insisted on a line saying that the belgian government had the right to still consider the cases how it saw fit. it's intriguing that this is run, this sort of spanish belgian separatist extradition issue has run through bilateral relations between the two for some time. carles puigdemont was not clear about what guarantees he's speaking from the spanish government in terms of when he'll return to face justice. people asked him what guarantees he wanted, he didn't say. he was very unclear about how he wants the eu institutions and the other member states to get involved. he said, i wa nt states to get involved. he said, i want the eu to get involved because their values are our values and they are under threat. but he didn't tell whaws they wanted to do, what legal mechanism he expected the eu to put in place.
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that is a crucial point as well. adam fleming thank you very much. before i go, simon, worth pointing out that there are other members of the former parliament here though who're facing similar charges and they're still in the region. back to you. thank you very much. and finally to the perils of twitter. tonight is the final of the great british bake 0ff — when millions are expected to tune in to channel 4 to find out who has won. it's supposed to be one of television's most closely guarded secrets. but this morning the newjudge, prue leith, accidentally named the winner on twitter. she says she's mortified. here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. and don't worry, you don't need to look away now — we will not tell you who has won. hello, thank you for coming. the moment is here. i would like to ask the three finalists to step forward. this was supposed to be the moment that the winner of the great british bake—0ff would be revealed. millions were expected to tune in tonight, to find out whether it would be kate, sophie or steven.
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the winner of the great british bake—0ff 2017 is... no longer a secret. after prue leith, one of thejudges, mistakenly revealed the result on social media. in a quickly deleted tweet, she said: no—one told mejudging a great british bake—0ff final would be so emotional. i wanted them all to win. bravo... followed by the name of the winner. which we have of course removed. hopefully it won't have spoiled it for too many people, but it is a shame because the big story is the fact it has worked. this unlikely move from the bbc to channel 4 has gone really well. they have huge viewing figures and it was supposed to be a celebration tonight, it was the big finale and hopefully it hasn't been spoiled for too many people. prue leith, who is currently in south asia, quickly apologised saying: i am so sorry to the fans of the show, for my mistake this morning. i'm in a different time zone and mortified by my error. the show hasn't attracted the massive viewing figures it enjoyed on bbc one, but has still been
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a big channel 4 hit. they will be hoping today's accidental revelation won't prevent tonight's final becoming their most watched show in decades. it is halloween, time for pumpkins and masks. 0h, phil, it's you!m is. that looks like the chart showing it was the warmest 0ctober in years? yes, i am here to tell you why. thank you for spoiling that! we tapped into some warm air up aacross the south—eastern quarter of the british isles. 23.6 no less and, asa the british isles. 23.6 no less and, as a consequence, well scenes such as a consequence, well scenes such as this broke out quite widely. you've done it again. across the south—eastern quarter. you've done it again. across the south-eastern quarter. two phils in one shot! you could look at that all
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afternoon. i haven't seen legs like that since antiques roadshow. i'll doa that since antiques roadshow. i'll do a leg—off with you! let's not peak too early in the afternoon. nowhere near those temperature today, although that's not bad for the time of year. an awful lot of cloud. the weather front piles its way in towards northern and western parts. if you are trick or treating, particularly scotland and northern ireland, pretty wet fair i have to say. further south not a cold night thanks to the breeze and also a fair bit of cloud as well. let us focus on the central parts of scotland first up, simply because the met 0ffice already have warnings out about the amount of surface water you are likely to encounter. the m8 for example, the top end of the m76 and 77 perhaps. as we come further south, you get away from the frontal zone so south, you get away from the frontal zone so there is a fair amount of cloud around. not a bad start to the day, a dry one at least.
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temperatures 8—11. i am hopeful there'll be more sunshine once the day gets going. we are almost up to lunch time. the rain is still there in scotland and dribs and drabs getting into northern ireland too. eventually that front pulls down towards the southern uplands. sunny spells and showers to the north of that and a fresher feel. further south, 13, 14, 15, not too bad for the time of year. that front, into wednesday and thursday, continues its journey slowly south, a band wednesday and thursday, continues itsjourney slowly south, a band of cloud with the odd spot of rain more than anything else. that will be a nuisance in southern parts of england and wales. temperatures for some never better than eight or nine. i've moved on towards friday and again, a new set of weather fronts bringing towards friday and again, a new set of weatherfronts bringing more cloud and rain back towards the north and west of scotland and northern ireland. further south, north and west of scotland and northern ireland. furthersouth, not a bad day until we start the weekend. that is a more active set of fronts, that will take a time to pull away, taking the rain with it
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and then following on behind, the flow is down. the isobars from the north—west never a warm direction, specially at this time of year, so the weekend looking to be much cooler than the mid section i've just described. we are probably looking at a weekend of mixtures of sunny spells with sharp showers, especially across northern and western parts. because of that it will feel a wee bit chilly. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the government is looking at imposing a £2 maximum bet on fixed—odds gambling terminals, down from £100 every 20 seconds. critics say that the current high odds can lead to dangerous addiction. scotland yard is investigating seven allegations of assault in the uk by the hollywood film
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mogul harvey weinstein. he has denied all claims of nonconsensual sex. catalonia's deposed leader has said the spanish high court has no grounds to begin a case against him on charges of rebellion but insisted he wasn't trying to escape justice, as he held a press co nfe re nce trying to escape justice, as he held a press conference in brussels. defence secretary sir michael fallon claimed he was once rebuked by a political journalist for claimed he was once rebuked by a politicaljournalist for putting his hand on her knee amid ongoing allegations of sexual harassment in westminster. the bank of england has warned that 75,000 financial sector jobs could be lost if the uk leaves the eu without a trader. sport now on afternoon live with 0lly foster, paralympics in the headlines again. yes, a very important select committee at westminster, simon, all the key figures were there from within the sport, looking at the
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culture there in, so there have been some very negative headlines around that, and the classification system as well, with lots of claims that have arisen recently that the system is open to abuse, that athletes can cheat their way to medals by exaggerating their impairments and disability to get put in weaker fields, whatever the sport is. we can bring in our reporter who was across the hearing, afternoon to you, lots of key players from across para sport, and we were bracing ourselves for what might come out of it, has anything relevant come out? as you said, there were a number of key parties involved in the committee, baroness tanni grey—thompson, 11 time paralympic champion, but all the lights seem to fall on michael breen, the father of a world champion long jumper, 0livia breen, who said it would be explosive evidence, and he did
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manage to do that. he was delivering to the select committee, so there is parliamentary privileges, and he explained that he recalled a conversation with the head of british para athletics and said that he suggested that the double paralympic champion sophie hahn was in the wrong category. let's hear from what he said. the process at classification, it all seemed pretty loose. within the commerce asian she told us that the athlete in question, sophie hahn, didn't have cerebral palsy, but she had learning difficulties, but she had ended up with a cerebral palsy classification. it is important to mention that sophie hahn has not done anything wrong, he's just suggesting that she is in the wrong category, important to make that point clear. but it is a really
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difficult one, because she has not responded yet, it is hard to know where the evidence is going to go, and this is the first time athletes have been named, and there is a suggestion that there are more athletes likely to be named afterwards. any response from the british paralympic afterwards. any response from the british pa ralympic association? afterwards. any response from the british paralympic association? i know tim hollingsworth was also in front of mps. he was actually featuring today, he was very held backin featuring today, he was very held back in his response is, obviously had to play it very careful, because not sure what was going to be delivered, but baroness tanni grey—thompson was very open with her responses, she delivered a duty of ca re responses, she delivered a duty of care report earlier in the year which suggested there was an opportunity for the system to be abused. she set the responses she received from that report was that there was a lack of governance, a lack of transparency, and that people are just not happy around how the system is being run at the moment. many thanks indeed for the update on that dcms hearing around para sport. after six years together, sir mo farah has split
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from his american coach alberto salazar. farah won four 0lympic golds and six world championship titles in their time together based in oregon but is returning to the uk with his family. he says the end of their relationship has nothing to do with the two—year us anti—doping investigation into salazar. both men deny any wrongdoing, and none of salazar's athletes have ever failed a drugs test. farah retired from the track this summer, and gary lough, paula radcliffe's husband, will oversee his marathon career. farah posted this message on social media. i want to thank each member of 0regon project and alberto for what they have done over the years, so i am coming back, my coach is going to be gary lough, who coached paula radcliffe, i can't wait to be back home and obviously can't wait to see my team, arsenal, at the emirates! kyle edmund is through to the second round at the paris masters, but he was pushed all the way
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by russian evgeny donskoy. the british number two had to save a match point in the second set tie—break against the world number 76, before winning in three sets. he'll play the american jack sock next. finally, ireland say they will not give up on hosting the 2023 rugby union world cup, even though south africa has been recommended by the tournament organising board. france are also bidding to stage the event. the world rugby council meeting just over a fortnight to vote on who the host is going to be. that is all the sport for now, much more in the next hour. more now on one of our top stories today, a government plan to crack down on problem gambling. at the moment, people can bet £100 every 20 seconds on fixed—odds betting terminals in high street bookmakers, but that maximum stake could be cut drastically under new proposals. with me is samil gillani, a recovering gambling addict — who spent around £250,000 on fixed—odds betting terminals
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i want to hear your story, how did it start? what was that first moment when you went into a betting shop and put money down?|j when you went into a betting shop and put money down? i think, initially, it was fruit machines when i was 16, and then when i was 17, i was introduced to the fixed odds betting terminals, and from that point it was, initially, i was quite young, i could bet £10 and win £300, and for me that was a bus, excitement, but slowly, obviously, my life was completely tainted by it, and! my life was completely tainted by it, and i was going from £5 and £10 up it, and i was going from £5 and £10 up to £100 a spin, and by the time i was 18, i knew! up to £100 a spin, and by the time i was 18, i knew i had a problem. up to £100 a spin, and by the time i was 18, i knew! had a problem. did you have the money to do that?” was 18, i knew! had a problem. did you have the money to do that? i was working full—time and living at home, so i had enough money to do that, but the more that i gambled, i took out overdrafts, took out credit cards to try and, you know, get some more money for it. living at home, did you discuss it with anybody,
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your parents? did they know you were getting into trouble? my parents knew that i had a gambling problem ata knew that i had a gambling problem at a young age, they helped me, i was in ga initially, and that did not help at the beginning, but you know, they did not know the extent of the problem. so at what point did it get... well, what did you get to spending in one day, when you went, my word, what am i doing to my word, what am i doing as spending in one day, when you went, my word, what am i doing as i was spending my whole month's wages in the space of a lunchtime... that happened a number of times throughout the 12 years that i was gambling. but, you know, iam on the road to recovery now, and that is the most important thing. road to recovery now, and that is the most important thinglj road to recovery now, and that is the most important thing. ijust wa nt to the most important thing. ijust want to analyse, a whole month's wages in a lunchtime — what you do that afternoon, how do you live? you
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walk out, i walked out feeling sick, you know, i have contemplated suicide, trying to work out how i am going to explain this, and it got worse as, you know, i got married and had children, then it is my responsibility, whereas at that age, when i was younger, living at home with my parents. so you have and lies how much the addiction has cost you, what is the figure?|j lies how much the addiction has cost you, what is the figure? i think it is well in excess of £250,000. and are you still in debt? no, no, well, iama are you still in debt? no, no, well, i am a little bit, but not a huge amount, only a few thousand. but you know, the money is irrelevant. at the end of the day, i am not gambling, and supporting other people, the money doesn't matter. but at the time it was all you are living for, that chance of winning? yes, the money was important when i was doing that, but it was more the adrenaline that kept me going, the
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bus, you know, it could have been pennies and i would have still carried on doing it and doing it, but because these machines allow you to gamble up to £100, that was what i was going to bed. every 20 seconds. yes. in a lunchtime, i spent a whole month's wages, about £2500. so all that money has gone on and just wondering, once you have got into some level of debt, how you are then financing this, how many credit cards must you have been using? i had five or six credit cards, three orfour using? i had five or six credit cards, three or four overdrafts to try and do that. as i got family, i was then using family savings to do that. it was really bad. and what about the reaction in the shops? were they always pleased to see you, ordid were they always pleased to see you, or did they add any point say... never got questioned, do you want to speak to someone? i always got on
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well with them, it seemed almost like happiness that they were getting so much money out of me. and was it the same people in the place? yeah. all gambling together? it was a mixture of people. so you are now a mixture of people. so you are now a recovering addict, what was the moment where you started taking this habit? well, there was a couple of things. january the 28th last year, i got caught out from my wife, she was trying to work out where all the money was, and i came clean. i then started to go to gamblers anonymous, and from that moment i worked out that i could not continue with my addiction, and i need to get better. and a £2 maximum bet would change things? possibly. possibly, ithink the government are ducking out of
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any responsibility. very good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed. the social—networking site facebook says more than 100 million americans could have come into contact with russian—backed propaganda before and after last year's presidential election. twitter and google also say they were used to share divisive posts traced to russia. it comes as the white house insists that criminal charges brought against former aides to president trump show no evidence of collusion between his election campaign and russia. paul adams reports. it is almost a year since donald trump's stunning election win, a year in which one nagging question will not go away — just how much did russia do to help? now, facebook may have come up with part of the answer. in testimony prepared for crucial congressional hearings, it says a vast quantities of misleading and divisive content which originated in russia were swirling around america before and after the election. it says 80,000 posts were published betweenjune 2015 and august last year.
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they were seen by 29 million americans directly. through likes and shares, the realfigure could be as many as 126 million people. figures seized on by mr trump's defeated opponent. we started from nothing happened to maybe a little bit more happened, now 126 million americans? that is nearly as many people who voted. russian officials deny all involvement. no—one, says sergei lavrov, can present any facts. but the allegations are now coming thick and fast. washington still reeling from yesterday's dramatic news that remembers donald trump's campaign tea m remembers donald trump's campaign team now face charges. former chairman paul manafort is one of two men accused of laundering money, earned while working for ukraine's former pro—moscow president. but it is the role of george papadopoulos which could prove more damaging. he has admitted lying
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to the fbi about his contacts with russian nationals. president trump is furious. in tweets this morning, he says it is all fake news, as paul manafort‘s lawyer said, there was no collusion and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign. as for the low—level volunteer named george, mr trump says he is a proven liar. the charges represent the opening salvo from robert mueller, the man leading the russia investigation. it is unlikely to be the last. some of mr trump's supporters are urging him to sack mr meuller, and democrats are warning the president not to interfere. the fallout continues, twitter is alive, and in the last few hours, news that a prominent democratic lobbyists stood down from his firm over alleged links with pro—russian
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politicians in ukraine, also had some contact with paul manafort. donald trump is trying to deflect what is going on his team with tweets like this: fake newsweek! does he mean weak, spelt like that? that is from donald trump. i want to show you another tweet, because you will remember that it emerged that having pleaded in court, george papadopoulos, having pleaded in court, george pa padopoulos, another of those
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involved in the trump campaign, he pleaded guilty to charges relating to russia, but it was not this particular george papadopoulos, who has tweeted in the last few hours. i'm sorry, i can't show you that. what heat we was, it's not me, this is george papadopoulos having a holiday with his mother, he says it has been a rather strange few hours being confused with someone at the heart of an international story. more on those a little later on. the headlines on afternoon live. a government review could see the maximum stake for fixed—odds betting terminals drop to as little as £2 to reduce the risk of people suffering large losses. british police investigating the american film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. the bank of england estimates that up to 75,000 jobs could be lost in the financial sector if britain leaves the european union without a trade deal. and the winner has been served up before we have had the main course, prue leith is left red—faced after revealing who has won the final. not much regarding brexit is clear,
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but what we do know is that the decision to leave the eu will trigger the most significant changes to uk agricultural policy since the 1970s. half a million uk farmers produce 60% of the food eaten in the uk and manage some 70% of the land area. what impact will future trade arrangements have on farmers and food production? and what will this all mean for the british consumer? throughout today, we'll looking all aspects of uk food and food production post brexit. 0ur correspondent jamie robertson is at a farm in cambridge. it you are looking at mushrooms, more than i have ever seen in my life! iam more than i have ever seen in my life! i am in what you more than i have ever seen in my life! iam in what you might more than i have ever seen in my life! i am in what you might call a factory, probably a farm, but out of this huge building, 160 tonnes of mushrooms come out and get distributed around the uk, mostly for domestic production. it is part ofa for domestic production. it is part
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of a company which is a huge multinational company based in ely, which is where i am standing in cambridgeshire, in the great fenland of east anglia. what they do is they have a whole range of businesses here in the uk, it grows celery, salad, radishes, all sorts of things you see in the supermarket, but it also has a lot of international operations, in spain, the czech republic, in poland, some in senegal, it has a farm in the usa as well. but what is interesting about this business is the way in which it has spread itself across europe. now, we're going to be talking about the impact of brexit on food production here in the uk in a second, but first i want to look at it from the point of view of europe, and steph mcgovern has been to denmark, and she sent this report about what brexit will mean for danish farmers. denmark — famous for pastries,
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lego, lurpak, carlsberg and bacon, to name a few. this country has done well from trading with the uk and, in particular, selling us pork. a quarter of the pork products reimport to the uk come from this country from denmark, and they have been exporting it to us for over 150 years. soren is the fifth generation in his family to run this business. 35,000 pigs born on this farm every year. on our farm, we are actually producing especially for the uk markets, so most of our production is actually ending up in the uk, so, of course, it is an important thing. so are you worried about it, then? of course, we are following what is happening at the moment, and we will be ready to try and find new markets for our products. of course, we hope we can keep trading like we have done for hundreds of years. as we leave the farm, we head along miles of flat, green land. it's not surprising that agriculture is big business here.
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after 40 minutes, we arrive at danish crown, the world's largest exporter of pork. at the moment, like all businesses in the eu, they don't have to pay any tariffs when trading with us. that could change when we leave. the only thing we know is uncertainty. the one thing that we as a business, what we don't like is uncertainty. there is a need for import to the uk and we also think the affinity there is between denmark and the uk, especially on food, will prevail. we need the uk, and we think the uk needs us as well. here, they are cutting up pork loin. that will be shipped to the uk and next couple of days, and it will be cured and made it to back bacon. now, for the last 40 years, anything to do with food has been controlled by the eu. so from subsidies to safety. at esbjerg port on the west coast, some of the goods leaving here
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are heading across the north sea to the uk. now, food that is put on lorries here in denmark will arrive at distribution centres in the uk without facing border checks. even small delays in times can have effect on some ports regarding trucks in line. we are quite sure that if we get administrative burdens, we will be able to sort some of those out with the technology. but some of our concern is what will go on with what will happen in the uk. will your economy slow down? will the buying power of the british people slow down? they are optimistic here that trade with uk will continue after we leave the eu. but it's clear they are hoping that will be with a deal that doesn't change much from what we already have. right, let's get back to the uk,
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back to the mushrooms, which is where i am at the moment at his factory in east anglia, what exactly will brexit mean for the farming communities and the food and drink industry in the uk? i am joined by the corporate affairs director of the corporate affairs director of the food and drink federation, many people say the worst—case scenario, although some people would welcome it, is a hard brexit, no deal, relying on wto rules. what does that mean for the farming and food and drink industries? well, the tariffs for agriculture average 22%, so that is the kind of tax we would have to put on imports, the tax we would put on our exports of food and strength, so on our exports of food and strength, so that would be very difficult for food and string. so gusts would go up food and string. so gusts would go %? food and string. so gusts would go up 2296? we import about 4096 of the food we eat, so there would be an impact on food prices, but then there are nontariff barriers, we
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would have to do veterinary inspections at ports, export licensing, all of which delays food and drink tracks which are short sheu and drink tracks which are short shelf life or perishable goods. what about the opportunities that might arise once we get away from the macro and can start exporting to other countries more freely? —— away from the eu? the world loves british food and drink, and that is a fantastic opportunity, brexit is a great chance to turbo—charge export and put a huge amount of support behind british food and string, because the world wants to consume what we produce, and you can see the quality around you today, it is famous around the world. what about the kind of negotiations you would like to see? we could have a transition deal which could start in 2019, what would you like to see? what kind of deal would you like to see at the end of that?” what kind of deal would you like to see at the end of that? i think we wa nt to see at the end of that? i think we want to see things staying as close to today for as long as is necessary until we know exactly what the trade deal with the eu looks like, then we
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can move into that new future world. but trade barriers of some sort? well, we would like to have zero tariff trade with the european union, they are our biggest trading partner for food and string, but we will have to negotiate that as part of the wider deal. in terms of other markets, are there ones which might be easier to crack? there has been a lot of worry about food standards in trading with countries like the united states. consumers expect high standards in this country, and it is great that the government are saying we will not compromise on that, we will not trade down on that, so if we maintain standards, the opportunity is to sell more of our food abroad, people really appreciating that quality. get the other big issue has been migrant labour, and a lot of farms, this one has 2500 migrant workers here, producing mushrooms, and also producing mushrooms, and also producing salads and other things. how important is that to the
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industry, and how vulnerable to those people not turning up every year? it is fantastically important, about a third of our workers come from across the eu, and we have made good progress with those already here, but we do not know what future policy will be, and we need to understand that, it has to be as open as it can be to ensure we don't have labour shortages which would cause prices to rise. thank you very much indeed, tim rycroft from the food and clink federation. a lot of the answers here are, i don't know, we simply do not know how it will turn 0ut,, that is all i can say at the moment from julien quesne richer. back to you, simon. jamie robson, just another fun—guy! now for some snake news here on afternoon live. a python has left a poor parrot petrified. the 1.5 metre long snake was coiled
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around the pet bird's cage at a house in singapore ready for dinner when it was snared with a stick. the owners of the bird called nikki captured the python and got it into a plastic bag before calling an animal rescue centre to come collect it. it's reported the parrot has been very quiet since its ordeal. time for a look at the weather with phill avery. if you get to see some sunshine today, that will be the exception to the rule, a lot of cloud to be had, andi the rule, a lot of cloud to be had, and i suspect it will be at its thickest across central and western scotland, rainfall totals really mounting up, and it is the persistence rather than the intensity that is causing concern, right on into the commute first thing on wednesday morning. this rain isa thing on wednesday morning. this rain is a concern for those up and down the m8, north ayrshire, but
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away from that essentially dry, 14-15. away from that essentially dry, 14—15. fresher to the north of the weather front, a mixture 14—15. fresher to the north of the weatherfront, a mixture of 14—15. fresher to the north of the weather front, a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers. thursday, something quieter, the re m na nts of thursday, something quieter, the remnants of the front sink towards the southern counties of england and wales, following behind drier and brighter prospects. hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. today at 3. calls for a crackdown on high—stake fixed—0dds betting terminals; is the bookies' luck about to run out. i will return but i want guarantees. sexual harass there are 430,000 gambling addicts in britain and many lose a vast amount of money on f0 bts. i will return but i want guarantees. catalonia's sacked president says he has not travelled to belgium to seek asylum.
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i'm in here in brussels, it's the capital of europe. i'm not here nor political asylum. scotland yard investigates seven new allegations of assault in the uk by the american film producer, harvey weinstein. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. more news from the paralympian team? yes, an uncomfortable afternoon for eve ryo ne yes, an uncomfortable afternoon for everyone involved. there are claims of cheating by manipulating the classification system. we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. phil avery has all the weather. some weather h watchers are getting very artistic but it's still a wet picture in north and west parts of the uk. more details in half an hour. also coming up — prue leith accidentally reveals winner of the great british bake 0ff. hello everyone, this
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is afternoon live i'm simon mccoy. they're called the crack cocaine of gambling — fixed—odds betting terminals on which you can currently gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds. they made almost £2 billion last year for the betting industry and hundreds of millions in tax for the treasury. but now the government is looking at limiting the amount that can be gambled at any one time to as little as £2 as part of a review of problem gambling. jim connolly reports. a few months ago, nathan would have struggled to walk past a bookmakers. his excessive gambling problem started with fixed odds machines. he stopped betting with help from gamblers anonymous. i found myself suddenly with debts that i could not cover at all. i lost about £5,000 in 48 hours. you lose all sense of time around you. the moneyjust, the money becomes a number on a screen. you're desensitised to everything that is going on. gamblers anonymous was my last
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resort to save relationships. currently you can bet up to £100 a time on a fixed odds betting erminal. the government review suggests a much lower limit, ranging from £50 to £2, making these machines less attractive. we recognise that people are losing a lot of money on these machines. that they are creating some issues around harmful gambling which can have a great impact on other areas in society including their families and their communities so we want to make sure we are taking action. but labour isn't happy with the review, saying it could go much further. the government could have come to parliament today and said we are reducing the stake to £2. instead they have given in to industry lobbying, they have a 12 week review. the maximum stake could still be £50, which means there are going to be a lot more problem gamblers losing money in years to come. last year, £1.8 billion was made from these types of machines. bookmakers said thatjobs
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are at risk if the limit falls as low as £2. we estimate that half of shops in the uk would close, that's approximately 4000 shops and potentially 20,000 jobs. at higher stake levels maybe 20 or £30 we are looking at approximately 2000 shops closing with 10,000 to 11,000 job losses. just like high streets up and down the country, this part of east london has more than its fair share of bookmakers. legally, shops like this one are restricted to having only four fixed odds machines in each shop and some critics say they are so profitable that some companies have multiple branches all in the same area. charities say it's the speed you can lose money on these machines that is the issue. the gambling industry has 12 weeks to respond before the government decides how low its final limit will be and, with bookies taking billions each year, the stakes have never been higher. jim connolly, bbc news. with me is marc etches, chief executive of the gambling
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charity, gambleawa re. and you will be more aware than most at how this affects lives? absolutely. it can be devastating for the problem gambler, the individual, but we know that seven to eight of their family and friends around them are impacted on the harm. for the individual themselves, it will be a matter of a mental health issue, but indeed, as the harm goes beyond their circle into society, it becomes a public health issue and so one of the things we are particularly pleased about today is that the government giving us the responsibility of leading a national public awareness campaign because we really wa nt public awareness campaign because we really want a better conversation about the nature of gambling, the risks associated with it and very particularly where to go for help if you need it. when you talk about public health issues, the nhs is an
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organisation which eventually gets involved. with those who get into deep trouble and self—harm and worse? and i wish it did for gambling, but the reality is, is that whilst the nhs does inteed pay attention to alcohol and drug issues andindeed attention to alcohol and drug issues and indeed obesity for that matter, in relation to gambling it doesn't. that is one of the reasons why i would like a much broader open conversation about the role of gambling in our society. for young people particularly, we feel that gambling is becoming normalised in a way that it shouldn't. society really does need to address this. when you say normalise, people say it's pushed upon you and you can't switch on the tv without several ads in one period from different companies? i agree. kids are growing up companies? i agree. kids are growing up in companies? i agree. kids are growing upina companies? i agree. kids are growing up in a world where there's a plethora of inducements focussed on young people. the relationship between sport and gambling is
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becoming really insidious, football particularly is at a tipping point and needs to think carefully about that relationship. when did things go wrong, a lot of people point to 2005 when the then labour government eased off and allowed it to become essentially self—regulated. eased off and allowed it to become essentially self-regulated. you might go back further to the national lottery. this weekend camelot, the operator of the national lottery, are launching a new advertising campaign for scratch cards. scratch cards rather like machines in bookmakers are easily accessible, fast—speed of play and in terms of lottery products they are available to 16, 17—year—olds in are available to 16, 17—year—olds in a way other products aren't.l are available to 16, 17—year—olds in a way other products aren't. a lot of people will say there is a fine line between addiction and a health issue and people just don't have much self—control sometimes or are they essentially getting that wrong? this is one of the reasons why we wa nt to
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this is one of the reasons why we want to provoke a much wider open and honest debate. for the individual problem gambler it is a mental health issue and we need to respect that. but we also need to recognise that there are wider harms, some work that we commissioned through a think—tank last year estimates the minimum of cost to government of gambling related harm is over £1 billion. i suspect it's a lot higher than that. this is a really important issue, not just to get the this is a really important issue, notjust to get the nhs involved, but actually to have conversations. ifind it but actually to have conversations. i find it remarkable that somebody can go to a debt adviser, talk about their debt and not actually be asked about, do you have an issue with gambling. they may not but that conversation really must happen and people aren't comfortable with that and they need to be. a lot of people calling the f0 bts and they need to be. a lot of people calling the fobts and the crack cocaine of the gambling world. would bringing down the £100 you can lose in 20 seconds bringing it down to £2, would that make a difference,
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particularly for people who are starting, for whom the initial buzz would be greatly reduced?” starting, for whom the initial buzz would be greatly reduced? i think it's important to bring the stake levels down, yes. we have to remember that it isn't just levels down, yes. we have to remember that it isn'tjust stake levels, speed of play is an important characteristic as well and we also have to remember there are gambling machines in all kinds of other venues as well, so we mustn't lose sight of the fact that there are risks in relation to gambling products wherever you find them. our research shows that whilst there may well be more problem gamblers playing at stakes above i think it's £28 and below, even at #237bed there are problem gamblers playing at £2. by are problem gamblers playing at £2. by the time anybody comes to gamble aware, i suspect not only their lives but the lives of those around them have been wrecked one way or another? well, that can be the case. whilst there are 430,000 problem gamblers we estimate in britain today and two million at risk of becoming so, prevention has got to becoming so, prevention has got to be better than cure. so absolutely we have to have services to help
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those who've got themselves into deep trouble. equally, we need to educate particularly our young people. given what we have said about the power of technology, the accessibility of online gambling where i might say there are no limits to the stables and prizes, then actually we do need to educate our young people in the sense of making them resilient from the gambling—induced companies. thank you very much. british police investigating the film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. officers are investigating separate incidents alleged to have taken place between the early 1980s and 2015 in london and outside of the uk. the metropolitan police said no arrests have been made over any of the allegations at this stage. mr weinstein has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non—consensual sex. carles puigdemont is trying to keep this issue in the international headlines and also potentially it raises? ca rles
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carles puigdemont said he was not in belgium to seek asylum but wanted to speak freely. tim willcox is in barcelona for us. he was asked when he would return to spain and he said he wasn't sure, he said he wanted guarantees from the spanish government. i'm not sure how many they are prepared to give actually, bearing in mind they have said all along, that the referendum was illegal, unconstitutional, invoked direct rile and they are pressing for charges. let's just pick up on what he had to say though at that press conference in the brussels press club a few hours ago. this report by andy moore. the world's media waited expectantly for the first comments from the catalan leader since he left his homeland. good morning. he said he would speak in several different languages to appeal as widely as possible
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to an international audience. he accused the spanish government of aggression against the catalan people. translation: we are facing a state that only understands the reason of force and has decided to use violence, forcing us to abandon our political project. in answer to a question in english, he denied he would be claiming political asylum. i am not here to plain asylum, this is not a belgian question. brussels is the capital of europe. i am here in order to act with freedom and safety. even as he was speaking, spain's constitutional court declared the declaration of catalan independence null and void. another court was considering rebellion charges against him. the people of barcelona woke up to newspaper headlines this morning that their president
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was now in belgium. opinion on that, as an independent itself, is divided. for me, said this man, it shows he lacks the courage of his own convictions. but this man said the more international spotlight the issue received, the better that was. outside the headquarters of the catalan government there was no sign of a tussle for power. the image of the exiled leader can still be seen in some of the officers. the local police were on duty outside. there are reports the national civil guard has raided the headquarters. there were wild celebrations in barcelona on friday, when the breakaway from spain was announced. but what for some was a dream of independence is now further away than ever. interesting to see the lawyer that
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ca rles interesting to see the lawyer that carles puigdemont has engaged, he has 40 years experience with asylum cases and has history with spain. he represented the basque separatist group eta. there is a history there. the prime minister of belgium has said that he supports spain in this and basically mr puigdemont is in brussels as an eu citizen free to walk across the border. if there we re walk across the border. if there were an international arrest warrant, that might be different. let's speak to two people on different sides of this debate. a student in support of catalan republic and our other guest, a pro—unity lawyer here. if i can start with you, some of the separatists i've been speaking to think mr puigdemont is a coward for leaving the country. what do you
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think? well, we think that if he has left the country it's because that's his way to continue working for the republic. we ask him is that he continues defending and establishing the republic, even he is away and we hope all of this is a strategy. how is he keeping the republic going when there's direct rule from madrid at the moment and none of the ministries are being run by the previously elected catalan parliament? of course we are in a difficult situation, as we expected. now, all we ask them to do is to continue doing their work and continue doing their work and continue working as much as possible. all we are going to do is establish it in a better way is participate in all the places where we can get more recognition. but aren't you a bit confused because a few days ago, mr puigdemont was
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calling on others and everything is going on as normal? all we were asking for was for the proclamation of the republic which is what we got. now of course when we keep seeing more repression which is what we keep say seeing every day, we are going to be in the streeting mobilising and defending, but we really now, our choice in the government that they do their work, we trust them. what do you think? i think it's very coward as you mention. i think we live in the era of fa ke mention. i think we live in the era of fake news and fake politics. they do not proclaim the republic, they pass a wishy—washy motion for resolution. the spanish flag was never put down, not even on friday afternoon in official regional buildings. theyjust float away. this is really embarrassing. the central government is stepping in and needs to put in some order. you
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have got elections in december? yes. and he is taking part so you presumably welcome that? of course, yes. recognising that central government is restoring constitutional order and playing by the rules. i'm very happy for that. we have democratic elections on december 21st and they are running, that's great. what themes then if he gets another coalition? does the battle for independence continue —— what happens then? it's not about recognising that our government is the spanish government, not at all. we already claim the catalonia republic. it's about having opportunity of expressing ourselves again and if this is a way to show once more, which has already been clarified, once more show with a majority with the catalans there for independence and this makes it easierfor us to independence and this makes it easier for us to establish the republic so we'll continue if that is the case. thank you both very much. mr puigdemont is still in
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brussels, he could be there for some time. not sure when he's going to come back and campaign for the elections. 0ne legal problem to the declaration of independence in the cata la n declaration of independence in the catalan parliament last friday is that it hasn't been signed into the official gazette, the hansa rd, that it hasn't been signed into the official gazette, the hansard, as we'd know it in britain, which means it's not technically law. so did they declare independence after all or not... thank you very much. just getting news that british awares have agreed a pay deal —— british airways. flight cancellations and passenger disruption kept to a minimum by using other cabin crew. a new pay
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deal accepted. much more on that coming up. the headlines: a government review could see the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals dropped to as little as £2 to reduce the number of people incurring huge losses. sexual assault allegations from seven women by harvey weinstein are being looked into. ca rles by harvey weinstein are being looked into. carles puigdemont says he's gone to brussels to hear make his voice heard in the european union, not to claim asylum in belgium. in a moment, serving up the winner before the main course — prue leith reveals the main course — prue leith reveals the winner before it's aired. claims of cheating investigated. baroness tanni grey—thompson says it's not possible to say the current system in place is fair and transparent. manchester united could qualify for the knockout stages of the champions league this evening, jose mourinho's
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side host benfica, chelsea and celtic are also in action. and sir mo farah‘s celtic are also in action. and sir mo fa rah‘s left celtic are also in action. and sir mo farah‘s left his american coach alberto salazar after six years and is returning to the uk with gary lock, paula radcliffe's husband is set to oversee his career. salazar is the subject of doping allegations but denies any wrongdoing. let's go over to norman smith in westminster now. what has the government said about the harassment claims? so they've been playing down the allegations around sir michael fallon, saying that he was right to apologise for the incident back in 2002 when he placed his hand repeatedly on the knee of a well—known journalist julie ha rtley— brewer well—known journalist julie hartley—brewer at a conservative
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dinner, that no complaint has been made about him by miss ha rtley— brewer made about him by miss hartley—brewer and that therefore there is not going to be any cabinet 0ffice investigation unlike of course the circumstances surrounding mark garnier who is subject to an investigation. you get the sense that certainly miss hartley—brewer views the incident as much ado about nothing, saying in a tweet and statement that she doesn't think she's a victim and doesn't think the incident in any way compares to the other allegations sweeping around westminster. but what is striking i think is even so, there remain numerous allegations still being aired at westminster. the bbc‘s seen aired at westminster. the bbc‘s seen a list compiled by parliamentary researchers and young party workers in which they identify 40 mps and list allegations against them. now, many of those allegations are
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com pletely many of those allegations are completely unproven, others are uncontentious, but nevertheless, there are allegations relating to a number of mps doing the rounds at westminster. to give you a sense of how sort of febrile the atmosphere is when the prime minister's spokesman was asked at the daily lobby meeting with journalists about whether the prime minister had confidence in sir michael fallon, he did not give the automatic answer which is almost always yes of course, but rather came up with this formulation of words whereby he said the prime minister has confidence in all her ministers and the work they do. now, you might think that's a bit of wording, but number ten are choosing their words with care because there are so many allegations swirling around at westminster. norman, thank you very much. let's go inside the lobby because we can join iain watson who is there. brexit, we are already hearing it's creating jobs at least in one part of government? absolutely. we have
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been reporting that senior figures in the bank of england have been suggesting that as many as 75,000 jobs could be lost in the financial services industry because of brexit under what they call a reasonable scenario. that could mean of course no deal specifically for financial services. but in one area, employment is booming and that is around here in westminster. just down the road in whitehall too. at a cabinet meeting this morning, the brexit secretary, david davis, revealed to colleagueles that already around 3,000 jobs have been created, civil service jobs, already around 3,000 jobs have been created, civil servicejobs, to deal with brexit. but more on the way. there could be 3,000 to 5,000 new in customs and excise, the hmrc jobs in customs and excise, the hmrc to deal with new customs arrangements as well in the coming year. the treasury's put half a billion aside to deal with brexit and the need for departments here within the government to be fully prepared by the time we leave the european union in 2019. what was also discussed this morning was a
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range of options, including a no—deal scenario, so i'm presuming that's the higher end of the jobs range, perhaps 5,000 jobs might be neededin range, perhaps 5,000 jobs might be needed in customs for example if there is no deal and no transition arrangements which would give us less time to put new customs arrangementings in place. there was some good news for the government today. michel barnier, the chief eu negotiator said he was willing to speed up negotiationles. the government is willing to go into trade negotiations but he'll see that as a positive signal and the conservatives are keen to say they are about to get a good deal. thank you very much. and finally to the perils of twitter. tonight is the final of the great british bake 0ff — when millions are expected to tune in to channel 4 to find out who has won. it's supposed to be one of television's most closely guarded secrets. but this morning the newjudge, prue leith, accidentally named the winner on twitter.
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she says she's mortified. here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. and don't worry, you don't need to look away now — we will not tell you who has won. hello, thank you for coming. the moment is here. i would like to ask the three finalists to step forward. this was supposed to be the moment that the winner of the great british bake—0ff would be revealed. millions were expected to tune in tonight, to find out whether it would be kate, sophie or steven. the winner of the great british bake—0ff 2017 is... no longer a secret. after prue leith, one of thejudges, mistakenly revealed the result on social media. in a quickly deleted tweet, she said: no—one told mejudging a great british bake—0ff final would be so emotional. i wanted them all to win. bravo... followed by the name of the winner. which we have of course removed. hopefully it won't have spoiled it for too many people, but it is a shame because the big story is the fact it has worked. this unlikely move from the bbc to channel 4 has gone really well. they have huge viewing figures and it was supposed to be
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a celebration tonight, it was the big finale and hopefully it hasn't been spoiled for too many people. prue leith, who is currently in south asia, quickly apologised saying: i am so sorry to the fans of the show, for my mistake this morning. i'm in a different time zone and mortified by my error. the show hasn't attracted the massive viewing figures it enjoyed on bbc one, but has still been a big channel 4 hit. they will be hoping today's accidental revelation won't prevent tonight's final becoming their most watched show in decades. here is the weather with here is the weather with phil. here is the weather with phil. if here is the weather with phil. if you get to see a decent spell of sunshine today, you will be the exception to a pretty cloudy rule. this is the way of it across the british isles. at its thickest, the cloud across central and western parts of
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scotland, the rainfall totals really mounting up here. it's the persistence rather than the intensity causing concerns. that will take us on into the commute in the morning. wells, not a cold night. a lot of cloud around. the rain is a concern for those up and down the m8. some of the rain getting into northern ireland. away from that zone to the south, essentially it's a dry day with sunshine. fresher the north of the weather front. sunny spells and scattered showers. for thursday, a little quieter as the re m na nts of thursday, a little quieter as the remnants of the front sink to the southern counties of england and wales. a drier and brighter prospect following on behind. puigdemont this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the government is looking at imposing a two pound maximum bet on fixed—odds gambling terminals — down from £100 every 20 seconds. critics say that the current high odds can lead to dangerous addiction. catalonia's deposed leader, has said the spanish high court has
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no grounds to begin a case against him on charges of rebellion their relationship has come under scrutiny. biff been in many conferences when sir mo got angry. he has never failed conferences when sir mo got angry. he has neverfailed a drugs conferences when sir mo got angry. he has never failed a drugs test. and his coach always denied all allegations of wrongdoing, but it forced mo farah into a corner. they have split. today an important meeting at westminster. this time casting their
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attentions towards para sport hearing from key figures from para sport and paying attention to the classification with many claiming that the system is open to abuse and athletes cheated their way to medals by exaggerating their impairments and disabilities to get themselves put into weaker fields whatever their sport or discipline is. baroness tanni grey—thompson was just one of those facing mps. mps today. and we should have an open discussion about misclassification. where we are now in the paralympic movement, it is medals and sponsorship and media coverage. you think it is the equivalent? not quite, but it's, there are
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similarities in terms of what it can give you. to that mo farah story. he has split from his coach. after 6 years together, sir mo farah has split from his american coach alberto salazar. farah won 4 olympic golds and 6 world championship titles in their time together based in oregon but is returning to the uk with his family. he says the end of their relationship has nothing to do with the two—year us anti doping investigation into salazar. both men deny any wrongdoing and none of salazar's athletes have ever failed a drugs test. farah retired from the track this summer and gary lough, paula radcliffe's husband will oversee his marathon career. farah posted this message on social media. i want to thank each member offer gone project. i'm coming back and my new coach will be gary lough. i'm excited. a new protect and a new
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start and i can't wait to be back home and see my team, arsenal at the emirates. celtic host bayern munich and chelsea travel to roma. manchester united top of their group with three wins out of three. they are at home to benfica, victory at old trafford could take united into the knock—out stages. jose mourinho has been defending his striker lukaku after a baron spell in front of goal.” defending his striker lukaku after a baron spell in front of goal. i have to protect my players when i feel the players deserve and he always deserves because what he does for the team, what he does for the team is fantastic. and he playing foot ball is fantastic. and he playing football for a striker is notjust about scoring goals. so for me,
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untouchable in my team and i think he should be untouchable also in the support and the respect that he deserves from the fans. kyle edmund is through to the second round at the paris masters but he was pushed all the way by russian evgany donskoy. the british number two had to save a match point in the second set tie—break against the world number 76, before winning in three sets. he'll play the american jack sock next. that's all from me. damien is with you in the next hour. 0lly, thank you very much. more now on one of our top stories today — a government plan to crack down on problem gambling. at the moment, people can bet £100 every 20 seconds on fixed—odds betting terminals in high street bookmakers but that maximum stake could be cut drastically under new proposals. a little earlier, i spoke to tom watson, the shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, who said the machines were dangerously addictive. we think the machines have turned
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our high street bookies into high street casinos and particularly the digital roulette games on these machines seem to have an addictive quality that does very large damage to many, many families and communities. the governing commission estimate one in nine people that use the machines have gambling problems. and the way to change that is to reduce the stakes so change that is to reduce the stakes so that people lose less over time and the industry know that this has been coming. they have been throwing everything they can at it. spindoctors, lobbyists, threats of legal action and they have managed to delay the government again who are worried about a judicial review for another 12 month consultation. we were due this report back in april. it was interrupted by the general election. the government then delayed the decision until after the summer recess and once again, gambling addicts are going to have to wait another three months before the government acts. there is a which have of hypocrisy, because in 2005 you were part of the labour
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government that deregulated this industry? i don't think there is hypocrisy. at the time both parties supported the regulations on fixed odds betting terminals. they were unregulated before that, but we didn't understand how there would be an explosion of the number of machines in and the addictive qualities that they bring to people who tend to have problems with gambling. i want to quote because you wrote in the new statesman two yea rs you wrote in the new statesman two years ago, "you said what labour failed to do was hold the gambling industry properly to account and make sure these machines are managed responsibly." you do carry some of the responsibility for some of mess? i'm trying to put the matter right. both parties supported the regulation. they were completely new machines. nobody knew anything about them. they didn't form any of the regulatory framework for gambling. they are only the tip of the
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iceberg. we think it is the low hanging fruit. you can deal with the sta kes hanging fruit. you can deal with the stakes quickly, behind there sits an explosion of digital products on people's phones and online that i don't think the current gambling law, because it was designed for the analogue age, it is 12 years old, that legislation was prepared for what was to come in the internet age andi what was to come in the internet age and i have said to the government and i have said to the government and said in the chamber today, we will work with them to bring in a new gambling bill that can make sure that framework of regulation and laws accommodates all the new products. we don't want to sort of, you know score political points. we think it is an urgent social policy matter. there are nearly 500,000 gambling addicts in this country. 450,000 children gamble a week mainly on their telephones. something is going wrong here and going very badly wrong and we want to urge ntly going very badly wrong and we want to urgently address the problem which is why we were disappointed with yet another delay to making
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what most people see sz a common sense decision. tom watson talking to me earlier. a committee of peers has recommended that the size of the house of lords should be cut by a quarter and capped at 600 members. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is at westminster. i could use the analogy of turkeys and christmas, but it is a bit early! it is. it maybe too early to say whether this will happen or not. there is a long history of the lords being presented with reforms and then not going ahead with them or government of the time deciding it is far too much effort to do anything about it. there could be a significant step and i think importantly, this is a reform proposal drawn up by the house of lords itself, where there seems to be cross party agreement that this issue of its size, the fact that there are now 800 members of the house of lords making it the world's second largest decision making body that, that the issue of size has to be tackled and the numbers need to come down and the committee of peers
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put forward proposals to do just that and the plan is to cut the numberfrom that and the plan is to cut the number from 800 to 600 within about a decade or so and the main way of doing that is to introduce 15 year terms for all new peers being created. ben, thank you very much. ben wright there. the decision to leave the eu will trigger the most significant changes to uk agricultural policy since the 1970s. 500,000 uk farmers produce 60% of the food eaten in the uk and manage more than two—thirds of the land area. so, how could the negotiations impact the british farming industry? 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier has been working with the bbc‘s reality check team and is here to explain. yes, every aspect of our lives will be impacted by brexit and the negotiations between london and brussels. food production and prices are some of those areas. something central to farming in the uk when it comes to brexit is the common agricultural policy or cap. the financial assistance it gives is vital to farmers right across the eu including
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here in the uk. the cap is one of the biggest areas of eu spending — at £39 billion — with each country in the eu paying into the budget to fund the policy. the eu says the payments make up nearly half of the income of farmers across the bloc. it supports eight million farmers across the eu and aims to stabilise their incomes and keep prices roughly the same when it comes to the impact of the common agricultural policy on the uk, there are around 178,000 farmers who benefit from the scheme. a few get millions of pounds but the average payment
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is between seventeen and eighteen thousand pounds a year. to reassure farmers about what will replace the cap after brexit the government has already promised to keep up the payments until 2022. leave supporters point out that the uk contributes more to the whole eu budget than it receives back in subsidies like these so they argue the government should still be able to support farmers once we've left. of course everyone wants to know — will our weekly shop end up being more or less expensive? it's impossible to say because there are so many factors, like the value of the pound and crucially the weather, that impact food prices. and we don't yet know how brexit will affect the number of seasonal workers who come here and their wages. another big factor that'll influence the cost of food is the nature of the trade deals we strike with the eu and the rest of the world because tariffs — that's the extra cost put on imported food and the food standards we adopt after brexit all need to be negotiated. so, will brexit impact food prices? that remains highly uncertain. but if you want to find out more about all this — go to the bbc‘s reality check page online. eleanor, thank you very much.
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0ur correspondent jamie robertson is at a farm in littleport in cambridgeshire. what sort of farm, well, there is a clue. mushrooms? that's what you are looking at, not me, mushrooms. 0ut looking at, not me, mushrooms. out of this factory, it is not really a factory, it is a farm, but it's indoors. it is in these great rooms, 48 of them along this warehouse of a place. they are producing 160 tonnes of mushrooms every week, but this company is a multinational company, it is based just outside ely and in order to produce the mushrooms and also salad crops, radishes and other various things that you will find on the salad part of your supermarket, in order to produce that, they need migrant workers. two industries really dependant upon migrant workers. 0ne really dependant upon migrant workers. one is farming and the other is hospitality and we will
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talk about both those different industries. i'm joined talk about both those different industries. i'mjoined by talk about both those different industries. i'm joined by two people who know a great deal about them. we are joined who know a great deal about them. we arejoined by the president who know a great deal about them. we are joined by the president of the national farmers' union and the chairman of the british hospitality association. i'm going to start with you, migrant workers. at the moment, we're seeing fewer of them here. what impact is it having on farming generally at the moment? it can have a huge impact. we have got a successful business here growing the mushrooms and salad crops as you say, very dependant on seasonal workers and non british workers so we need a pilot seasonal workers scheme to make certain that the business continues for the uk economy. historically, these businesses relied on seasonal workers. surely, we can replicate what was in place many years ago and allow people to come in from outside the european union to carry out the vital tasks. why can't we use our own workers? straightforward. iwas
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speaking to an international economist the other night and any developed country that has unemployment below 5% has full employment. 0ur levels are at 43%. if we want to grow the economy and increase our food production which will be so important, we need the non british people to come in and do the seasonal work. it is notjust seasonal work, it is the food processing sector. let's talk about hospitality. do you recognise the argument there? we are letter seeing the impact following the devaluation of the pound and because of the continued uncertainty in our industry, we're already seeing a numberof our eu industry, we're already seeing a number of our eu nationals within our workforce actually returning. we have 700,000 eu nationals working in our industry. directly employ 3.2 million people in our business so the numbers are serious. the impact is and our concerns is great. does it mean we will have to pay more money for workers to work in your
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industry? well, the national living wage will have tackled the problem of wage pressure and there is no evidence to show that there has been any impact of having eu nationals working in our industry, or any industry for that matter in the uk suppressing wage levels. that's misnomer. the issue is we are close to full employment. there aren't the people available who are job seeking that we can actually employ and bring into our roles and that's particularly true in terms of particularly true in terms of particular regions within the country. so if you look at london and the south east, for our industry, that's where we are close to full employment. very few job—seekers and the highest numbers ofjobs requiring filling. job—seekers and the highest numbers of jobs requiring filling. let's get away from the migrant workers issue and love on to brexit generally. for the farming, what kind of opportunities do you think there are presented by brexit which farmers can take advantage of? there are great opportunities as long as the
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negotiations on exit are resolved. we need that transitional period for the industry to become adapted and then we need a framework which government to allow the farming industry to invest. i think it's quite scandalous that our self sud fishancy in food in the uk is down to 61%. british farming can produce more and it needs the certainty and needs the right framework and my message to government is this — are you prepared to give that farming industry the confidence to invest for the future or are you going to allow a more food imports, probably below the standards which we produce to and also possibly some environmental damage? 0ur food is produced to the highest standards in the world. we know in the nfu that british consumers want british food so british consumers want british food so the opportunities are there, but it will need a framework by government to give the farming industry certainty and that framework to invest for the future. what about the opportunities of brexit for your business? well, our
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business is the opportunity actually and one of the great opportunities i see for the united kingdom for uk plc is completely transforming the vocational education and careers syste m vocational education and careers system in this country. in order that we can get a much better balance between academic path ways and vocational path ways, giving young people in britain a real chance because it is a creality that in coastal communities for example, if you are a young person living in the k uk and born in a coastal community it is sad that the reality is that you are more likely to be unemployed, unemployable and to have a poor education. we need to change that. so our industry operating in coastal areas and rural areas, as well as urban centres is the brexit opportunity, but we need government to meet us half—way so we can change the lives of those young people and give them real hope. thank you very much. that's it. still waiting for a lot of answers on how brexit will pan out for both those industries, but that's the latest opinions on
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what it could mean for them. this is jamie robertson in a mushroom farm outside ely in cambridgeshire. so it is! jamie, thank you very much. the headlines on afternoon live: a government review could see the fixed for fixed odds betting terminals reduced. british police investigating harve harve are looking at allegations from seven women. carles puigdemont says he has gone to brussels to make his voice heard in the european union, not to claim asylum in belgium. what is the trick to making hallowe'en a treat for everyone? we will be digging for the answer with a world record pumpkin carver! facebook says more than 100 million americans could have come into contact with russian backed
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propaganda before and after last yea r‘s propaganda before and after last year's election. it comes as the white house insists that criminal charges brought against former aides to trump show no collusion. paul adams reports. it is almost a year since donald trump's stunning election win. just how much did russia do to help? now, facebook may have come up with part of the answer. in testimony prepared for crucial congressional hearings, it says a vast quantities of misleading and divisive content which originated in russia was swirling around america before and after the election. it says 80,000 posts were published betweenjune 2015 and august last year. they were seen by 29 million americans directly. but through likes and shares, the realfigure could be as many as 126 million people. figures seized on by mr trump's defeated opponent.
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we started from nothing happened to a little bit happened and maybe a little more happened. now, 126 million americans, that's nearly as many people who voted. russian officials deny all involvement. washington is reeling from yesterday's news that three members of donald trump's campaign team now face charges. the former chairman, paul manafort is one of two men accused of laundering money earned while working for the ukraine's president. it is the role of george papadopoulos that could be more damaging. president trump is furious. in tweets this morning, he says "it is all fake news." as paul
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ma nafort‘s says "it is all fake news." as paul manafort‘s lawyer said there was no collusion. as for the low level volunteer named george, mr trump says he is a proven liar. the charges represent the opening salvo from robert muller, the man leading the russia investigation. it is unlikely to be the last. with some of mrtrump as unlikely to be the last. with some of mr trump as supporters urging him to sack mr muller, democrats are warning the president not to interveer. —— interfere. it's that night again — lights off in the house, sit in a darkened room. making no noise, ignoring the doorbell. yes, it's halloween! but if you are not as miserable as i am and you are in fact looking forward to your halloween night — maybe you are having a party or off trick or treating then the one thing you will need is a pumpkin. with me is dave finkle, who's a world—record pumpkin carver. first of all, i have got to ask you,
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how did you get into this, what has clearly become an obsession?m how did you get into this, what has clearly become an obsession? it was a complete accident actually! in our village we decide to have a pumpkin growing competition and then the following evening we decided right, let's do it, let's carve them all and it was just then that i realised that i believed i could, you know, ta ke that i believed i could, you know, take it to a new level. i want to show some pictures and it is not like these. these pumpkins you do are very like these. these pumpkins you do are very different. let's look at the puck tures that you've carved. you do it in a way that keeps the pumpkin skin intact and it is the depth. it gives a sense of an image, it is spooky and i suppose that's the intent? if you remove the flesh, it let's all of the candle light through to the human eye. if you just carve away the skin and leave the fresh intact it allows 50% of the fresh intact it allows 50% of the light and if you leave the skin on, it doesn't allow any light
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through at all. so, that's three shades of light which creates the 3d image. and it takes a highly, doesn't it? to design the template ta kes doesn't it? to design the template takes three to our hours and the carving can take three to four hours as well. if you said 20 years ago, hallowe'en, it meant very little to anybody, now, it is huge? it is fast becoming as popular as christmas. we are catching up with america, aren't we? now you are seeing the fronts of houses, they are spending hundreds of pounds decorating houses now. it's a huge festival and all the supermarkets are dedicating aisles purely to that festival. i'm looking at the screen here. that's a fairly basic idea, but what do you say to youngsters who say, i want to make a scary face. what's the trick? what i would say is, first of all, get pen and paperand would say is, first of all, get pen and paper and actually brain storm, come up with your ideas and then if you actually pin your drawing as a
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template on to the pumpkin and use the carving tools etch through your drawing, you will find that you will get much better results. right, that's the basic. there it is, that's the basic. there it is, that's how it starts. now let's show the pictures that show what is possible. look at that. and that's a pumpkin. that's daniel craig. and how have you done that? well, that's lord sugar. and you have got a light inside the pumpkin? that's right. there is jose mourinho! i won't use naked flame candles. i use battery operated tea lights and you can get two of them for £1 and there is no need now for people to use kitchen knives and use traditional tea lights. it's much safer, there is products available that are really, really cheap and they're designed for the household use and for the children. 0h, designed for the household use and for the children. oh, it takes the fun out of it though, doesn't it?” don't know. it opens it up for everybody and they still get their hands messy. you want to educate people about food as well and what's
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possible with it, but what do you do with what's inside? i actually i am partial to marmite so i will toast them with a little bit of marmite and get the seeds and toast them in the frying pan. they are a lovely savoury snack. really? yes, i enjoy it. so are you on the prowl tonight walking around with children and knocking on doors? yes, i will. that's a joy! 0ne that's a joy! one more pumpkin to carve this evening with my children and then bell be trick or treating.” evening with my children and then bell be trick or treating. i know you mentioned america, and we are a lwa ys you mentioned america, and we are always ten years behind with most things. i was in plum oth at the weekend and every house? families like a celebration and if you look at, you know, all the things we have, we have easter and christmas and a lot of our bank holiday festivals and everything, food, entertainment and family fun, they dovetail back together and hallowe'en is new kid on the block.
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if there are grumpy old what notes like me, is there that unwritten rule if you don't have a pumpkin on your doorstep, you don't want to be interrupted? if you don't want anybody to trick or treat don't have anybody to trick or treat don't have a pumpkin outside. a lot of people will carve a pumpkin and put them outside and i see that as an open invitation. but you think that's probably the best way of making sure you are not, because a lot of people are frightened when that doorbell goes? there is that side of it and u nfortu nately, goes? there is that side of it and unfortunately, there are youths out there that have started to give hallowe'en a bad name. there was the clown costume craze last year which certainly spread through the media and put a lot of people off. certainly spread through the media and put a lot of people offm certainly spread through the media and put a lot of people off. if i ask you to carve my face in a pumpkin, how much will you charge?” can't tell you. how much? it has four digits. does it? the celebrity
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portraits i do for large campaigns and companies... £15.50, something like that? no! because i provide the whole package and work with them on their ideas with pr companies, you can see it grabs the attention.” can. and you can see that the bbc brought you in because you haven't touched that! laughter now the weather with phil avery. that's not the cheeriest of spheres behind me. there is a mass of cloud dominating it the scene across the greater part of the british isles. not without one or two holes, but they will be really rather fleeting and the cloud is at its thickest across central and western parts of scotla nd across central and western parts of scotland and through northern ireland too. this is where we expect to see the bulk of the rain. further
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south, coolish and many will stay in double figures, but the rain just keeps on coming. for many of the western spots in scotland, especially around about the central belt into the north ayrshire area, argyll and bute. that's why the met 0ffice have a yellow warning out about the surface problems at the western end of the m8. away from that particular zone, it is a half decent start to the day. rather akin for the greater part of england and wales to what you experienced on tuesday morning. just watch out for a little bit of mist and fog around perhaps and here we are into the day on wednesday. we will drag that weather feature just that little bit further south, but it is very slow moving. brighter skies with a gaggle of showers there for central and northern parts of scotland. across the greater part of england and wales, it is a decent sort of day. a bit of brightness should help get the temperatures towards the mid—teens if you're lucky. this is the situation on wednesday and into thursday, we have a weakening weather front here,
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thursday, we have a weakening weatherfront here, gradually thursday, we have a weakening weather front here, gradually easing its way down across the country. 0nce its way down across the country. once it has passed through, you are in with a chance of seeing something brighter following on behind in with a chance of seeing something brighterfollowing on behind the re m na nts of brighterfollowing on behind the remnants of that front producing the odd spot of rain. i will change it from thursday to friday and we will bring a new weather front into the north western quarter of scotland and further south, it is another dry day. then we get into the start of the weekend which sees a weather front with quite a bit of rain on it affecting the south—eastern quarter. gradually pulling away and that opens the doorfor the gradually pulling away and that opens the door for the isobars to crank around yet again as was the case last weekend for some. into a north—westerly direction, it will usherin north—westerly direction, it will usher in cool air. the temperatures are on their way down for the weekend, it means the combination of sunny spells and scattered showers and it will feel a good deal chillier. hello, you're watching
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afternoon live. today at 4pm... calls for a crackdown on high—stake fixed odds betting terminals. is the bookies' luck about to run out? there are now 430,000 gambling addicts in britain and many of them lose vast amounts of money on fixed odds betting terminals. i will return but i want guarantees. catalonia's sacked president says he has not travelled to belgium to seek asylum. i am not here in order to claim political asylum. this is not a belgian question — i am here in brussels as the capital of europe. scotland yard investigates seven new allegations of assault in the uk by the american film producer harvey weinstein. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. damien is here. key figures in paralympic sport have
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been questioned by mps this afternoon and there have been claims made of duty by minute clicking the classification system. it has been revealed british athletes were threatened by not being selected if they spoke out. baroness tanni grey—thompson says it is somewhere between bullying and control. we will hear from between bullying and control. we will hearfrom her between bullying and control. we will hear from her later. and we also have the weather. not much in the way of blue sky. things are a bit brighter there. also coming up, what's the trick to making halloween a treat? we'll be digging for the answer. they're called the crack cocaine of gambling —
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fixed—odds betting terminals on which you can currently gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds. they made almost £2 billion last year for the betting industry and hundreds of millions in tax for the treasury. but there's plenty of evidence that they've also wrecked a lot of lives, and now the government is looking at action. jim connolly reports. a few months ago, nathan would have struggled to walk past a bookmakers. his gambling problem started with fixed odds machines. he stopped betting with help from gamblers anonymous. i found myself suddenly with debts that i could not cover at all. i lost about £5,000 in 48 hours. you lose all sense of time around you. the moneyjust... the money becomes a number on a screen. you're desensitised to everything that is going on. gamblers anonymous was my last resort to save relationships. currently you can bet up to £100 a time on a fixed odds betting erminal.
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the government review suggests a much lower limit, ranging from £50 to £2, making these machines less attractive. we recognise that people are losing a lot of money on these machines. that they are creating some issues around harmful gambling which can have a great impact on other areas in society, including their families and their communities, so we want to make sure we are taking action. but labour isn't happy with the review, saying it could go much further. the government could have come to parliament today and said we are reducing the stake to £2. instead they have given in to industry lobbying, they have a 12—week review. the maximum stake could still be £50, which means there are going to be a lot more problem gamblers losing money in years to come. last year, £1.8 billion was made from these types of machines. bookmakers said thatjobs are at risk if the limit falls as low as £2. we estimate that half of shops in the uk would close, that's approximately 4,000 shops
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and potentially 20,000 jobs. at higher stake levels, maybe £20 or £30, we are looking at approximately 2,000 shops closing with 10,000 to 11,000 job losses. just like high streets up and down the country, this part of east london has more than its fair share of bookmakers. legally, shops like this one are restricted to having only four fixed odds machines in each shop and some critics say they are so profitable that some companies have multiple branches all in the same area. charities say it's the speed you can lose money on these machines that is the issue. the gambling industry has 12 weeks to respond before the government decides how low its final limit will be and, with bookies taking billions each year, the stakes have never been higher. jim connolly, bbc news. a man has been found guilty of murdering a former royal navy officer who was run over and killed by his own car in
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greater manchester. live to manchester crown court — and our correspondent dan johnson. the verdict is guilty of murder, ryan gibbons convicted of murdering mike samwell outside his house in south manchester in april. mike samwell was a formally —— former navy summary and others and he was woken by the noise of somebody breaking into his house and him and his wife both woke up. mike samwell went downstairs to investigate what was going on when he found somebody at the back of the house taking his car, a high—powered audi. jessica sam weller gave distressing emotional evidence, describing following her husband downstairs and she saw her husband on the ground with the tyre of the car on his chest and she described in tears how she watched the car reverse back off
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his chest and then forward over him and speed off. driving that car was ryan gibbons, 29, who admitted breaking in, stealing the keys and taking the car but he denied manslaughter and murder, saying he never intended to kill anybody and he did not see mike samwell did not hear him but thejury he did not see mike samwell did not hear him but the jury has decided he must have been he was there. they we re must have been he was there. they were played cctv footage where you could hear mike samwell shouting, get out of the car, and the jury decided that ryan gibbons must have heard that all seen him and that is why he has been convicted of murder. also convicted at this afternoon is raymond davies, found gotti of manslaughter, who drove ryan gibbons to the property in standing —— are intending to steal the car will stop —— found guilty of manslaughter. stacey hughes was accused of assisting an offender, alleged to
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have given a fake name at a hotel to help cover ryan gibbons. she has been found not guilty but ryan gibbons and raymond davies will be back here tomorrow morning to be sentenced. this has been a distressing case which has highlighted how the normal ordinarily lives of decent people can be turned upside down and destroyed by criminals who acted in a carefree manner without any understanding of the impact of their actions might cause. i think the jury actions might cause. i think the jury was told that they believe more people were involved? that's right. we heard that the car which is raymond davies was driving to take ryan gibbons to the house also contained two other men. they have never been traced and the men convicted have refused to say who they work so that is something for they work so that is something for the police still to pursue, those men still to be traced and held to account for their part in this crime. this was a murder that has
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shocked so many people, happening in a quiet suburb on the south side and involving a decent manchester and involving a decent and normal and upstanding couple which really upset their neighbours and everybody knew had been touched by the tragic. the police have done a huge investigation, putting together the cctv and tracing where the cars went after the incident and tracking down the people involved and working their way through the web of lies told by ryan gibbons in an attempt to cover for what he had done that he has been held to account and been found guilty of murder and he will find out what his sentence will be together with raymond davies, here tomorrow morning. thank you very much. british police investigating the film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. officers are investigating separate incidents alleged to have taken place between the early 1980s and 2015 in london and outside of the uk. the metropolitan police said no arrests have been made over any
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of the allegations at this stage. mr weinstein has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non—consensual sex. theresa may's spokesman has said it's right that sir michael fallon should apologise for inappropriate behaviour towards a female journalist, but insisted the prime minister has "confidence in her government and her ministers" amid other allegations of sexual harassment in westminster. earlier i spoke to our assistant political editor, norman smith, who gave this update on what ministers have been saying about these allegations against him. he was right to apologise for the incident back in 2002 when he placed his hand repeatedly on the need —— on the knee, of a well—known journalist, julia hartley—brewer, at a conservative dinner, that no complaint has been made about him by miss hartley—brewer, and therefore there is not going to be any cabinet office investigation, unlike of course the circumstance surrounding mark garnier, who is subject to an investigation.
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and you get the sense that certainly miss hartley—brewer views the incident as frankly much ado about nothing. she has said in a tweet and a statement that she doesn't think she is a victim, she does not think the incident anyway compares to some of the allegations of sexual harassment sweeping around westminster. but what is striking i think is that, even so, there remain numerous allegations still being aired at westminster. the bbc had seen a list compiled by parliamentary researchers and young party workers in which they identified 40 mps and listed allegations against them. many of those allegations are completely unproven, others are uncontentious, but nevertheless there are allegations relating to a number of mps doing the rounds in westminster and just to give you a sense of how sort of febrile the atmosphere is, when the prime minister's spokesman was asked at the daily lobby meeting with journalists about whether the prime minister had
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confidence in sir michael fallon, he did not give the automatic answer, which is almost always "yes of course", but rather came out with this formulation of words whereby he said that the prime minister has confidence in all her ministers and the work they do. you might think that's a bit of criminology but it does suggest that number 10 are choosing their words with extreme care because there are frankly so many allegations still swirling around westminster. catalonia's sacked regional president says he's gone to brussels to make his voice heard in the european union, not to claim asylum in belgium. carles puigdemont told a news conference he was not trying to escape justice, but wanted to be able to speak freely. tim willcox is in barcelona for us. every time i go to you i think we might get some clarity but there isn't any! i'm trying my best! but
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if you have been here for three weeks, iam if you have been here for three weeks, i am almost tearing my hair out! but he has gone to brussels, went yesterday, nobody knew he was going but he went with five members of the catalan government, which doesn't exist any more, index are, and he did not go for asylum but he went to be able to speak in freedom and safety. he did not say when he was coming back but he said if he did and was treated with respect and transparency by madrid and with certain guidelines and commitments, he would come back but i don't think madrid frankly are going to play to his tune on this. this is a man after a ll his tune on this. this is a man after all who declared a referendum on the 1st of october, illegal said madrid, and then declared independence in the catalan parliament last friday, again illegal said madrid, who had always said that he wanted dialogue and
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negotiations with madrid and madrid said ok but not if independence is on the table and they carried on. he is now in brussels, not coming back until he gets those commitments from madrid and i don't think that will happen. this was what he had to say ina happen. this was what he had to say in a packed press conference, not where a lot of his supporters were expecting him to be here in barcelona but in brussels. this report from andy moore. the world's media waited expectantly for the first comments from the catalan leader since he left his homeland. good morning. he said he would speak in several different languages to appeal as widely as possible to an international audience. he accused the spanish government of aggression against the catalan people. translation: we are facing a state that only understands the reason of force and has decided to use violence and repressions, forcing us to abandon our political project.
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in answer to a question in english, he denied he would be claiming political asylum. i am not here to in order to demand political asylum. this is not a belgian question. i am here in brussels, as the capital of europe. i am here in order to act with freedom and safety. even as he was speaking, spain's constitutional court declared the declaration of catalan independence null and void. another court was considering rebellion charges against him. the people of barcelona woke up to newspaper headlines this morning that their president was now in belgium. opinion on that, as on independence itself, is divided. for me, said this man, it shows he lacks the courage of his own convictions. but this man said the more international spotlight the issue received, the better that was. outside the headquarters
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of the catalan government there was no sign of a tussle for power. the image of the exiled leader can still be seen in some of the offices. the local police were on duty outside. there are reports the national civil guard has raided the headquarters. there were wild celebrations in barcelona on friday, when the breakaway from spain was announced. but what for some was a dream of independence is now further away than ever. andy moore, bbc news. we can get the views of both sides of this debate. in a moment i will be speaking to isabel rodriguez who isa be speaking to isabel rodriguez who is a pro—unity supporter but first let's start with oscar simon who is a pro—independence activist. there isa a pro—independence activist. there is a lot of anger from the people i have been speaking to about what colour is puigdemont has done. is he
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a coward just running away —— carles puigdemont. i am not going to criticise him because the state is trying to jail him and he has... as an activist i can say that there was an activist i can say that there was a moment in the 10th of october two proclaimed the republic. we have the strength to do it because the 3rd of october and the ist of october, there were a million people fighting against the spanish state and we demonstrated we could fight the aggression if we do it collectively. you don't feel betrayed by him?” don't go go go —— i don't... the thing is not the moral or how you feel about that. what can you do to change that. now the spanish state
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has tried to go to new elections and throat and we, the unionists, will win and we will demonstrate its —— and vote. and what we can do to challenge that move. mr puigdemont is trying to go to belgium and win the international solidarity. as a grassroot, involved in the grassroot movement, we think we must organise in the neighbourhoods and ourjob places and we must think about two issues. how to challenge the power of the spanish state here and what we can do to build a republic from below. and the other thing is, we can continue with the leadership thatis can continue with the leadership that is not decided to fight against
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the state using all his strength. because we know it is difficult. i am not trying to blame puigdemont because personal decisions must become rendered. he has left his vice president behind to face the music. —— must be comprehended. with the independence movement from below, we are focusing on how to build independent movement so with power to fit the spanish state.” will come back to you in a second but let's go to isabel rodriguez in london. you want to remain part of spain, what do you think about the actions of mr puigdemont?” spain, what do you think about the actions of mr puigdemont? i think he isa actions of mr puigdemont? i think he is a coward. i don't understand why
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he had to go to brussels, why he did not stay in this country. i think mr puigdemont as to understand that this is not a problem between spain and catalonia, this is between catalonia and catalonia, those catalans who want independence and those who don't. i am one of those andl those who don't. i am one of those and i would like to ask mr puigdemont... why and i would like to ask mr puigdemont. .. why is and i would like to ask mr puigdemont... why is he ignoring us, why is he ignoring me? i listened to his speech this morning and i can tell you that applying the law is not violence. mr puigdemont is to understand there is a constitution which is the principle of democracy and he cannot ignore what he doesn't believe, he cannot ignore us. this isa believe, he cannot ignore us. this is a democracy. he says he can't go
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back to catalonia because he is facing charges of rebellion and sedition and could end up in prison for 30 years and he does not think he will get a free and fair trial. he will go to court and he will be judged. why does he think he's going to jail? that is democracy. he has committed a crime, it is true. he did the referendum, he knows it. he has been planning this for a long time. i don't understand... thank you very much. going back to oscar for a last comment, his critics would say he has set back the cause of independence by ten or 15 years and even your supporters are pointing out this might not have
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been a legal declaration of independence because it has not been written in the bulletin, what we would understand as hansard, and it is not law so it maybe it is a confidence trick, it has not been declared officially. this is a little messy, the situation. you bet! i can imagine for foreign people and even the people here. but the legal questions are not the main issue. what is the real point is the power to control the country, i can't imagine the other countries have been split from spain, there we re have been split from spain, there were no legal independence is. the legality is established by the power
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of the new state or the people. i don't think we are facing a defeat for ten or 15 years, we don't know, but the real point is that the political situation has changed and we must build another leadership to the independence movement. thank you very much. elections on december the zist, very much. elections on december the 21st, everybody will be taking part in interesting to see what mr puigdemont does because he says he does not want a political future but he wants to bring the country to independence, but that nagging detail that supporters of his are saying, guess what, if there is a court case, we might be able to prove that we did not declare independence because it has not been written in the spanish equivalent of hansard. are you any clearer? the clarity is welcome, ideas need to find it! thank you very much. a single dad and five children aged
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between four and 11 are believed to have died in a fire which ripped through a farmhouse in powys in the early hours of monday morning. investigations are continuing into the cause of the blaze which claimed the lives of 68—year—old david cuthbertson and several of his family at property. three other children, aged 13, 12 and ten, who managed to escape are being cared for in hospital. none are in a life—threatening condition. sinn fein say they will not make a "deal at any price" to resume power—sharing at stormont. the comments come amid talks to resolve a political stalemate in northern ireland. the northern ireland secretary, james brokenshire, has extended the deadline for the party to reach agreement with the dup on forming a new executive and avoid having the region's annual budget set by westminster. the social networking site facebook says more than 100 million americans could have come into contact with russian—backed propaganda before and after last year's presidential election. twitter and google also say they were used to share divisive posts traced to russia.
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it comes as the white house insists that criminal charges brought against former aides to president trump show no evidence of collusion between his election campaign and russia. paul adams reports. it is almost a year since donald trump's stunning election win, a year in which one nagging question will not go away — just how much did russia do to help? now, facebook may have come up with part of the answer. in testimony prepared for crucial congressional hearings, it says vast quantities of misleading and divisive content which originated in russia were swirling around america before and after the election. it says 80,000 posts were published betweenjune 2015 and august last year. they were seen by 29 million americans directly. through likes and shares, the realfigure could be as many as 126 million people. figures seized on by mr trump's defeated opponent.
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we started from nothing happened to maybe a little bit more happened, now 126 million americans? that is nearly as many people who voted. russian officials deny all involvement. no—one, says sergei lavrov, can present any facts. but the allegations are now coming thick and fast. washington still reeling from yesterday's dramatic news that three members donald trump's campaign team now face charges. former chairman paul manafort is one of two men accused of laundering money, earned while working for ukraine's former pro—moscow president. but it is the role of george papadopoulos that could prove more damaging. he has admitted lying to the fbi about his contacts with russian nationals. president trump is furious. in tweets this morning, he says it is all fake news, as paul manafort‘s lawyer said, there was no collusion and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign.
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as for the low—level volunteer named george, mr trump says he is a proven liar. the charges represent the opening salvo from robert mueller, the man leading the russia investigation. it is unlikely to be the last. with some of mr trump's supporters urging him to sack mr mueller, democrats are warning the president not to interfere. this year's award for britain's best new building, the riba stirling prize for architecture, will be presented at a special ceremony tonight. among the nominations are a crowd—funded renovated sea side pier, a mega campus for students in glasgow, and a new housing development with balconies made from wicker. our media correspondent, david sillito, is at the roundhouse in north london where tonight's prize will be presented. you can see behind me the preparations are underway and the
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riba stirling prize will be announced here on the news channel at 8:30pm. a wide range of buildings, that block of flats with both straw and wood and brick, and then the giant products like glasgow college, an enormous building to give it some status and heft. but the bookies favourite and the winner of the popular poll that has just been announced is hastings pier, which really is a story of a phoenix from the ashes. it gets you in here. you just think, why? you were here when it burned down? i was. people that i've never spoken to before were stopping me to talk about the pier. and everybody was devastated.
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it was really quite upsetting. the fact there had been a massive fire. and it felt like, how do we actually come back from that? did you think it was all over? i did and a lot of people did. but it was actually the opposite. seven years after that fire, hastings pier has been reborn. these three women are shareholders. the local community now owns the pier and it has been rebuilt. this curtain of glass, it finally gives the people of hastings a panoramic view out to sea. the woodwork here is the original timber from the pier. there are still some of the scorch marks from the fire of 2010. the most important innovation is this, nothing. what they chose not to build, the empty space. there is no end of the pier.
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and there is a good reason for all of this space. the history of britain's piers is a story of recurring disaster. flimsy wooden attractions that have a habit of going bankrupt and burning down. so much to listen to, so much to see, and everything must be the finest in the world, even the potato peeler. the old seaside attractions have gone. in their marketplace? open space that can be used for a variety of moneymaking enterprises. the victorians had this great concept of walking over the sea. promenading. thanks to then we've got this madness in our society called piers. madness? absolutely bonkers. peter wheeler is the engineer. 3000 tonnes of new steel had been added to try to keep the elements at bay.
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it's a triumph of hope over reality, isn't it? yes, and that's the biggest challenge. how does it fund its own maintenance? that is where piers have a problem. nevertheless, hastings pier is in the running now for building of the year. but whatever happens, the residents who helped save it, this is the prize they really wanted. what are your thoughts looking out on this now? i love it. it is just so peaceful. puigdemont gillian payne there one of the many shareholders who owns that pier and they will be watching closely tonight from the pier. you, of course, will be able to watch it on the news channel, 8.30pm, a special programme presented by
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myself and the announcement we are expecting at about 8.43pm this evening so do watch. roughly 8.33pm and you can see the nominated buildings on the bbc arths website and david said the winner will be live on the bbc news channel between 8.30pm and 9pm. we should catch it at 8.47pm! now the weather from a treat to a trick. here he is! i don't get out much and i know you don't either. you need the money! laughter trick or treaters this is for you. i thought thought we would see how things are going to shape up over the next couple of hours or so if you happen to be out and about. no more special effects, please. there is a lot of rain to be had. there is a lot of rain to be had. the odd drib and drab in northern
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ireland. maybe a spot on the western slopes of the pennines too. if you haven't had a mention thus far you are in with a fair chance that you will get away with a trick trick or treat. 0h. .. a will get away with a trick trick or treat. 0h... a bit will get away with a trick trick or treat. 0h. .. a bit early for the pantomime season! as we get on through the night so the rain will tend to be focussed through the top end of northern ireland and back through the heart of scotland. not a cold night or indeed as we start the new day on wednesday. eight or nine celsius in the south pretty much where we were yesterday morning, this morning! that's the one! it's going well... tomorrow morning we have concerns about the amount of surface water down the m8, top end of the n77. rain getting on to the northern shores of northern ireland, but once we get away from that, there could be the odd patch of mist and fog around, but it is a dry start. not too many problems for the greater pa rt too many problems for the greater part of england and wales. not overly cold either. as we get on
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through the day and it really be a time before this belt of rain moves into the southern uplands rather into the southern uplands rather into the southern uplands rather into the central belt of scotland, that means it is going to come down to be more of a threat into northern ireland. behind it, it goes to sunny spells and showers. ahead of it, it isafairamount spells and showers. ahead of it, it is a fair amount of dry will and i am hopeful there will be more in the way of dry weather than today. wednesday and into thursday, so this front, what is left of it, a band of cloud and not much more than that, the odd drib and drab of rain, it turns fresher. there is a chance of sunshine here. a lot of dry will. thanks to a ridge of high pressure toppling in ahead of the next set of weather fronts that are there. further south, bits and pieces of rain perhaps around about the western shores. this is the way of it further up on saturday. weather fronts close by to southern and eastern parts of the british isles. once they move away, look what happens to the isobars. it is north—westerly winds. they come down
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and across the british isles. so that shapes us up for a rather cool weekend to say the least. we will do more detail as we get nearer to the event, of course, if you work on the basis that it is sunny spells and for northern and western parts a mixture of sunny spells and showers, you won't go far wrong. enjoy your trick or treat even if simon won't! this is bbc news. our latest headlines:
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a man has been found guilty of murdering a former royal navy officer in a botched burglary. 29—year—old ryan gibbons was found guilty of the murder of mike samwell, who was run over and killed by his own car in greater manchester earlier this year. the government is looking at imposing a £2 maximum bet on fixed—odds gambling terminals — down from £100 every 20 seconds. critics say that the current high odds can lead to dangerous addiction. catalonia's deposed leader, has said the spanish high court has no grounds to begin a case against him on charges of rebellion — carles puigdemon insisted he wasn't trying to escape justice. scotland yard says it is now investigating seven allegations of assault in the uk by the hollywood film mogul, harvey weinstein. the claims cover a period from the 1980s to as recently as 2015. mr weinstein has denied all claims of non—consensual sex. sport now on afternoon
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live with damien. we have news coming up tonight of a new bowling coach for england as they prepare to go out to face the australians in the ashes. and the role of paralympics is under scrutiny again. yes, shocking allegations these the department for culture, media and have been hearing from key figures within paralympic sport and paying special attention to the classification system with many claims that the system is open to abuse and that athletes have cheated their way to medals by exaggerating their impairments to get put in weaker fields whatever the sport is. baroness tanni grey thompson was one of those facing mps today. . great britain should be the gold standard of independence and we
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should have an open discussion about misclassification, but where we are now in the paralympic movement, it is medals, sponsorship and media cove rage , is medals, sponsorship and media coverage, if we were talking about doping in olympic sport it would be the same reason. so you think it is the same reason. so you think it is the equivalent? not quite. but there are similarities in terms what it can give you. champions league football returns this evening with three british clubs in action. celtic host the five—time winners bayern munich while chelsea travel to roma. manchester united are top of their group with three wins out of three, and are at home to benfica. victory at old trafford could take united into the knockout stages that's if cska moscow fail to beat basel in the other group game. managerjose mourinho has been defending his striker romelu lukaku after a barren spell in front of goal. i have to protect my players when i feel the players deserve and romelu
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always deserves because what he does for the team, what he does for the team is fantastic and he playing foot ball team is fantastic and he playing football for a striker is notjust about scoring goals. so for me, untouchable in my team and i think he should be untouchable also in the support and the respect that he deserves from the fans. liverpool defender dejan lovren says a "disgusting" death threat has been made against his family on social media. lovren was heavily criticised for his performance in his side's 4—1 premier league defeat at tottenham earlier this month. the defender shared an instagram post of a private message in which the sender said they would "murder" the footballer‘s family. chris silverwood has been appointed as the full—time england bowling coach. he'll take up the post injanuary, replacing ottis gibson who left to become south africa head coach. silverwood led essex to the county championship title last summer. he won't be involved in the upcoming ashes series.
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england will use the former new zealand bowler shane bond as a consultant. ireland's hopes of hosting the rugby union world cup in 2023 have been dealt a major blow with the announcement today that south africa has received the world rugby board's recommendation to stage the competition. the world rugby council will now meet on 15th november to vote on the next host. the people behind ireland's bid though insist they are not giving up yet. the key issue and the key message for us and for people who have supported our bid and there are many unions out there who have supported us is that we are going to go into the next two weeks, we will fight to the next two weeks, we will fight to the end. we have got a great proposition and we have got a great bid in front of us. we are more than capable as rugby world cup acknowledged of hosting the tournament and that's what we intend tournament and that's what we intend to do. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. damien, thank you very much.
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now on afternoon live — let's go nationwide — and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. we can speak to dominic heale in nottingham where it seems they have some very talented pumpkin carvers in the region. in a minute i'll be speaking to jackie bird in scotland about some forensic scientists who have gone witch—hunting. to dominic first — where your viewers have been busy carving? they have and stop pretending you are enthusiastic. you are a hallowe'en ka munlgon. don't come round to my house, the lighting is off, the heating is off. you are a man close to my heart, i hide behind the sofa. i'm too stingy to buy sweets. that's like a lot of your viewers. good point well made. our viewers. good point well made. our viewers at our request have been sharing the photos of their pumpkins. let's have a quick look at pay particular attention to the last two because there is a bit of a story. that's a come meadic pumpkin,
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but that's the rams logo and nottingham forest because those two fierce rivals are playing each other tonight on hallowe'en night and of course, we have to be impartial and show them both to you here on the news channel! you have been looking at the dangers of carving, but that hasn't stopped one of your colleagues from taking part, is that right? no, we will see her efforts in a moment. have you heard of hallowe'en hand? this is what medics call the hand injuries that they see on this day every year. first off is the puncture wood in the palm of the non—dom nant hand, pim with a knife going through a pumpkin and go too far and bang and the other one is these fingers if you have got a sticky or wet knife and you slip and it, i will say no more! those wounds bleed a lot. well, it has taken an unexpected twist. this is supposed to bea unexpected twist. this is supposed to be a cheery item! let's here you
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up to be a cheery item! let's here you up by to be a cheery item! let's here you up by looking at shots of alex hamilton a weather presenter doing her bit for hallowe'en up in our well appointed bbc kitchen in nottingham. i think we can on a live shot now show you the end result and she is with me. alex well done. well, i really enjoy it. i am a little bit of a hallowe'en ka munlgon. i am little bit of a hallowe'en ka munlgon. lam not little bit of a hallowe'en ka munlgon. i am not up for the rest of the bits that go with hallowe'en, but i was always rubbish at art when i was younger. i think i have found my medium in the pumpkins.” i was younger. i think i have found my medium in the pumpkins. i thought you were just about tightly packed isobars! simon, do you quantity to ask this lady a question aboutier glorious pumpkins? they look impressive. how long does that take? the dragon one took about three hours to do. that was a long effort. the other two, perhaps the traditional one only took half an hour. the middle one took an hour—and—a—half. it depends on how intricat they are. so clearly we
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have too much time on our hands.” did some on sunday night, but one or two were done earlier on today. i had to get into work extra early to get cracking. no expense cracking. we know what's on the machine uat her house in the next few weeks. it's unedible! jackie, a team at the university of dundee has recreated the face of one of scotland's most well—known witches. yes, they have, indeed. let me suck the fun entirely out of hallowe'en and bring you this. quite a sad tale ofa and bring you this. quite a sad tale of a very unwicked witch of the east. it's a lady called liliius, she was condemned and tortured and about to be burnt at the stake where upon she died while she was in prison and became one of the few condemned witches who was not burned and therefore, all her remains destroyed for all time because after
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she died of natural causes, we are told, they buried her on a beach in the town and put a stone on top of her to make sure her ghost didn't come back and haunt those who accused her. 100 years later, she was dug up and her skeleton and skull, photographs were taken at the beginning of the 20th century, the skull was then lost, but using those photographs, researchers, as you have said at dundee university have begun to piece to go and put virtual flesh on the bones of her skull. let's look at the picture. the technology is stunning. 3d and we're sure this is what she looks like, are we? well, i couldn't possibly say that, but the researchers... laughter i wasn't around at that time. maybe a little bit later! but the researchers say that using obviously the major bones in the skull, the nose, the eye sockets, the jaw line,
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and then perhaps a little bit of artistic licence on the soft tissue, what they have there is given her a contemporary hair style. really trying to bring her up—to—date. to find really to show us what a poor woman would have suffered in days gone by. the fact that around that time, over the 300 years, scotland was particularly good at witch finding. we found nearly 4,000 witches, 300 of whom were burned at the stake. the researcher who completed this as dundee university describe her as having not a wicked face, but a rather kind face! jackie, giving us a proper sense of that hallowe'en is about and scaring us half to death. thank you very much for that. you're watching afternoon live. if you'd like to catch up with more of those news nationwide stories, go to the bbc iplayer. and finally to the
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perils of twitter. tonight is the final of the great british bake off when millions are expected to tune in to channel 4 to find out who has won. it's supposed to be one of television's most closely guarded secrets. but this morning the newjudge prue leith accidentally named the winner on twitter. she says she's mortified. here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba, and don't worry, you don't need to look away now, we will not tell you who has won! hello, thank you all for coming. the moment is here. i would like to ask the three finalists to step forward. this was supposed to be the moment that the winner of the great british bake—off would be revealed. millions were expected to tune in tonight, to find out whether it would be kate, sophie or steven. the winner of the great british bake—off 2017 is... no longer a secret. after prue leith, one of thejudges, mistakenly revealed the result on social media. in a quickly deleted tweet,
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she said, "no—one told mejudging a great british bake—off final would be so emotional. i wanted them all to win. bravo.. " followed by the name of the winner, which we have of course removed. hopefully it won't have spoiled it for too many people, but it is a shame, because the big story is the fact it has worked. this unlikely move from the bbc to channel 4 has gone really well. they have huge viewing figures and it was supposed to be a celebration tonight, it was the big finale, and hopefully it hasn't been spoiled for too many people. prue leith, who is currently in south asia, quickly apologised saying, "i am so sorry to the fans of the show for my mistake this morning. i'm in a different time zone and mortified by my error." the show hasn't attracted the massive viewing figures it enjoyed on bbc one, but has still been a big channel 4 hit. they will be hoping today's accidental revelation won't prevent tonight's final have becoming their most watched show in decades. the headlines on afternoon live:
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a government review could see the maximum stake for fixed—odds betting terminals drop to as little as £2, to reduce the risk of people suffering large losses. british police investigating the american film producer harvey weinstein are now looking at sexual assault allegations from seven women. catalonia's sacked leader, carles puigdemont, says he's gone to brussels to make his voice heard in the european union, not to claim asylum in belgium. brexit secretary says eu negotiators will meet next week. he was appearing before a lords committee. we are not holding up the process. indeed, i don't want to score any points, it is a practicalfact. i had invited mr barnier to come to london tomorrow, but he couldn't do it, he had a prior engagement and we offered them the beginning of next
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week and they couldn't do that, so it is the later part of next week will be when the negotiators engage, wednesday or thursday i think and i will be out there friday. they can't do monday and tuesday, so i will be out there friday. for the first stockta ke, out there friday. for the first stocktake, i'm out there friday. for the first stockta ke, i'm not out there friday. for the first stocktake, i'm not sure what you call t getting the next round under way. -- call way. —— call it, getting the next round under way. the decision to leave the eu will trigger the most significant changes to uk agricultural policy since the 1970s. 500,000 uk farmers produce 60% of the food eaten in the uk, and manage more than two—thirds of the land area. what impact will future trade arrangements have on farmers and food production? and what will this mean for the british consumer? our correspondent jamie robertson is at a farm in littleport in cambridgeshire. it looks like he has lost a bit of weight. simon, have you ever been in the presence of a million mushrooms? which is what i think i am at the moment! there are, well, there are
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millions of mushrooms around here. it isa millions of mushrooms around here. it is a mushroom farmed. it is one of the largest producers of mushrooms and also salads as well in europe. 160 tonnes of mushrooms come out of this farm, it is just outside ely in cambridgeshire. but one of the most interesting things about this business is it depends heavily, like many other agricultural businesses anged the uk, it —— around the uk, it depends heavily on migrant workers, 2500 migrant workers come here and work here, they are sorting the mushrooms and working in the fields and collecting the salads, what is going to happen to them sn what is hamming to them and what will happen to them after brexit? i'm joined by and what will happen to them after brexit? i'mjoined by two and what will happen to them after brexit? i'm joined by two people, one represents growers and the other isa migrant one represents growers and the other is a migrant worker as well who came from poland. let me introduce jack ward who is the british consumers' association. the head of the
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british, sorry british growers association. give me an idea about what the migrant workers have contributed to the british farming community? well, i suppose over the years as we have seen community? well, i suppose over the years as we have seen the economy grow in the uk, it has been harder and harderto grow in the uk, it has been harder and harder to get people to come and work in the fresh produce industry, but if you want back 100 years you would have still found people instead of coming from eastern europe, came out of east london, we nt europe, came out of east london, went down to kent and picked hopsz and apples, what happened 100 years on is actually we rely on these people coming over from eastern europe. but we have a good economy here. we can offer some good jobs, good rates of pay and good conditions and that's attracted them to come to the uk. we are also joined by one of those workers. this is alex who is a tech cal manager here. this company, a multinational company, but you came here ten years ago, alex, as a packer. i mean you we re ago, alex, as a packer. i mean you were just ago, alex, as a packer. i mean you werejust one on
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ago, alex, as a packer. i mean you were just one on a production line, weren't you? yes, i came here in 2006 and i was working in the organic pack house packing orranic salads and vegetables and my first contract was for three months. it finished. i liked it so much i wanted to stay longer. it was really ha rd wanted to stay longer. it was really hard work. i didn't use to it before, but i really loved it. after three months i got anotherjob as quality assurance technician and then later i got lots and lots of training. i started doing internal audits. i become quality and compliance manager and finally, technical manager. alex, what jack, one technical manager. alex, whatjack, one last technical manager. alex, what jack, one last question. alex, what jack, one last question. alex, of course, is somebody who has integrated perfectly into this economy. as well as into this society. but on the other hand, people voted to leave and one of the
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main reasons why they voted leave, they were worried about the migrant figures and people like alex what we have got to recognise across the uk economy we have three million non uk nationals working in the uk economy. now, you know, society has got to come to a decision, the uk has got to come to a decision about what it wants because without these people, without people like alex, and as alex demonstrated, thisser spread throughout the economy. we are not just talking about seasonal workers or manual workers, it is right across the economy. they are hugely important to the uk economy and we really can't afford to be without them at the moment. jack ward and alex, thank you very much. jamie, thank you very much. the duchess of cambridge has been visiting the lawn tennis association on her first solo public engagement since announcing she was expecting her third child. she was forced to cancel a number of engagements due to severe morning sickness in the early weeks of her pregnancy. daniela relph reports. she arrived dressed down, ready to play.
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it seems the weeks of chronic pregnancy sickness are now behind the duchess of cambridge. today she appeared to be back to full fitness at the national tennis centre in south—west london. as patron of the lawn tennis association, it was a chance for her to see how tennis is developing at a grass—roots level. the duchess saw children being given a first taste of the sport. it was actually really exciting. the first time meeting a royal family, i nearly screamed, and it was so fun as well. also sharing her expertise was the british women's number one, johanna konta. for her, the duchess's involvement in the game can have a real impact. it's really encouraging to have someone in the royal family so passionate about tennis. obviously, i share my passion and so many other people share that passion as well, and for the children to meet a princess it is very exciting for them.
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but i think overall, just to see her general interest in the sport is really encouraging. the duchess took over patronage of the lawn tennis association from the queen. she'd held the role for 64 years, but she wasn't the biggest fan of tennis. her trips to the all—england club were rare. the duchess of cambridge alongside the chairman... the duchess is a keen player and watcher of the game. a regular visitor to wimbledon. she once said tennis was the only sport where she could nearly always beat her husband. there was no husband to triumph over today, but this event appears to be the start of the duchess resuming a fuller diary of royal engagements, ahead of the new baby arriving in april. a five—year old girl who dialled 999 to save her mum's life was one of the winners celebrated at the pride of britain awards last night. the duke of cambridge was at the awards and spoke to the winners. suzie mccash was just four—years—old when she made the life—saving call last year.
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suzie told prince william how she was able to calmly ask for paramedics to attend the family home in tynemouth in northumberland. here is the moment she met the duke. that's great. that's it from your afternoon live team for today. next, the bbc news at 5pm. now it is the hallowe'en weather with phil avery. one quick look at the big picture shows there is this mass of cloud dominating the scene across the greater part of the british isles. not without one or two holes, but they will be fleeting. the cloud is at its thickest across central and western parts of scotland, through northern ireland too and this is where we expect to see the bulk of the rain through the night. further south, cool i shall without being cold and underneath the blanket of cloud and many will stay in double figure, but the rain keeps on coming. especially around argyll and
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bute too. that's why the met office have a yellow warning out about the surface water problems of those commuting down the western end of the m8 for example as you go into wednesday morning. away from that particular zone, it is a half decent start of the day. it is rather akin to what you experienced on tuesday morning. here we are into the day on wednesday. we will drag that weather feature just that little bit further south, but it is very slow moving, brighter skies with a gaggle of showers there for central and northern parts of scotland. across the greater part of england and wales, it is a decent sort of day. a bit of brightness should help get the temperatures towards the mid—teens. this is the situation from wednesday and into thursday. we have a weakening weather front easing its way down and across the country. once it has passed through, you are in with a chance of seeing something
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brighter. i have change it had from thursday to friday and we bring a new whether front into the north western quarter of scotland. further south, front into the north western quarter of scotland. furthersouth, it front into the north western quarter of scotland. further south, it is another dry day. then we get into the start of the weekend which sees a weather front with quite a but of rain on it, affecting the south—eastern quarter. pulling away and that opens the door for the isobars to crank around yet again as was the case last weekend for some. into a north—westerly direction. it will usher in cool air. so the temperatures are on their way down for the weekend, but it means the combination of sunny spells and scattered showers, but it will feel a good deal chillier. today at 5 — the government proposes new measures to try to tackle problem gambling. the maximum stake for fixed—odd betting terminals could be reduced from £100 to as little as £2. i lost thousands of pounds, got into thousands of pounds of debt
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and i think that capping the maximum stake at £2 a spin would reduce the harm that this product causes. i'll be speaking live to a man who thinks he's lost £1 million over 20 years and to the bookmakers william hill. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: a man is found guilty of murder — after he ran over a former royal navy officer with his own car. a father and five children are believed to have been killed in a house fire at their farmhouse in mid wales. british police are now investigating seven allegations of sexual assault by the american film producer harvey weinstein.
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